Withered
by doodlingcubes
Summary: It was just yesterday that things were normal. No one scared, or hurt, or missing... Now, everything was different. It's almost funny how quickly it became like this; someone she thought she hated was now on her team, the place she called home most likely destroyed... And to top it all off, there was one thing she couldn't understand. Why were her hands so stiff?
1. Beginning

**AN: Hello! Before we start, I'd like to explain something. In this story, Jesse is a bit- okay a lot- more nervous than she is in game. That's because of two reasons; one, I had played a run with this in mind, and two, I wanted to try writing something a bit different from the usual Jesse personality. With that said, I hope you enjoy!**

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Man, it was a good day for a competition. The sun was shining through the canopy of leaves above, warming the forest in patches. Olivia was perched on the roof of their little tree house, redstone coating her hands as she ran a line from a daylight sensor she had bought only a few days prior. It was tricky; the redstone had to run to the edge of the roof, where a redstone torch was. The block between them should cause the redstone torch to deactivate until the daylight sensor turned off. As she ran the last of the line, the torch, sure enough, stopped glowing.

She shot a glance up at the canopy a final time, then jumped down and slid through the open window. Her boots meeting the floor startled Jesse out of her thoughts from where she sat on the crafting table, and she blinked for a moment, before smiling.

"Hi Olivia." Jesse gave a tiny wave. "How's the redstone thing going?"

"Fine. The torch went out when I connected the line to it's base block, so it should work." Olivia tried to dust the redstone off of the windowsill, but only succeeded in smearing more onto the wood. She made a face. Glancing behind her, she noticed Jesse had zoned out again. "Hey, which would you rather fight?" The other woman glanced at her curiously. "A hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie-sized chickens?" The other woman's gaze turned thoughtful, and Olivia continued as she walked over to the lamp she was working on. "Keep in mind, you wouldn't have any weapons or armor. So you'd have to fight them with your hands."

"Probably… The zombie-sized chickens," Jesse said somewhat thoughtfully. "They're just big chickens. You wouldn't have to worry about them attacking you." Olivia nodded.

"True…" She started working on the line again. "So, I put a daylight sensor on the roof…" Jesse hummed. "And if I did this right, this lamp should turn on once it gets dark." Another hum. "Y'know, because I didn't wanna leave Reuben here with nothing."

"I was gonna bring him along, a-actually." Jesse slid off of the crafting table. Reuben, who had been headbutting an armor stand, came out from behind it and looked between them curiously. Olivia looked from Reuben to Jesse.

"Really?" Jesse nodded, and Olivia looked back at Reuben. "I thought we were gonna leave him here again. We haven't taken him in a few years."

"Yeah, b-but I hate leaving him behind. Besides, w-we can keep him close to us while we're there." Jesse moved over and pat Reuben on the head. The little pig snorted happily, then turned and jumped up onto the windowsill, despite the red smudges. "He's my best friend."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "I thought _I_ was your best friend."

Jesse flinched slightly. "Y-you both are."

"Alright. I didn't say he couldn't come." Olivia went back to what she was doing. "I just… I hope no one calls us losers for it." She glanced back at Jesse. "I'm tired enough of people laughing at us as it is."

"Who cares what they think?" Jesse placed her hands on her hips. Olivia made a face.

"I do." She sighed. "It wears you down."

Jesse didn't respond for a moment. "Y-you say you aren't a loser, Olivia. So _win_." Olivia blinked, watching her for a moment, then glanced down at the circuit she was working on. She then looked back at Jesse, letting out a breath and allowing a small smile.

"Okay. Fine." Jesse grinned.

A strange, muffled hissing noise sounded from below them. Olivia looked around a moment, then tensed, glancing at the trap door. The only things that hissed around the area were creepers. They couldn't climb ladders, could they?

"D-do you hear that…?" Jesse glanced nervously at her, then inched towards the trap door. Olivia held her hands up defensively as Jesse leaned down. The second her hand touched the trap door, though, it shot open, hitting the floor with a loud crack.

"Boo!"

Jesse screeched, reeling back a few steps until she ran into the wall. Olivia let out a scream of her own, grabbing the shelf beside her and putting the other hand to her chest. Reuben squealed, rearing up on his hind legs and tumbling off of the windowsill and onto the floor. Through the trap door came a creeper head, snickering wildly as broad shoulders followed it, covered by a green sweater. For a few seconds, Olivia's mind was reeling too much to register what had happened. Then, as the masked figure pulled himself into the house, still laughing, she managed to register the scenario. Axel had put on a mask to scare them, and damn had it worked.

"Hah! Oh man, you should've seen the look on your face, that was awes-!" Axel pulled off his mask as he spoke, only to be hit in the leg by Reuben's head. He let out a muffled "oof", putting a hand to his thigh. Olivia narrowed her eyes as Jesse pushed herself away from the wall, rubbing the back of her head.

"Axel, what is the matter with you?!" She stormed forwards, swatting his arm with her hand. Redstone dust stuck to his sleeve, and he grumbled, wiping at it.

"Great." He glanced down at Reuben, who huffed at him. "Reuben made me smell like a pig right before EnderCon."

"That's what you get for scaring us so bad, dumbass," Olivia snapped, snatching a rag from the table by the window and wiping her hands. Axel mock-glared at her. She rolled her eyes and set the rag aside, moving to undo her vest so she could change into her clean one. "Did you bring the fireworks?"

"Of course I did." Axel walked away from the door, stopping next to the armor stand. "I even brought something for the little guy." As Olivia undid the belt around her waist and pulled off the vest, revealing the light pink shirt underneath, Axel pulled two things from his inventory; an Ender Dragon helmet, and a pair of wings to match. Jesse grinned excitedly, while Olivia raised an eyebrow, draping her dirty vest over a post in the corner to wash later.

"You brought Reuben a costume?" She tilted her head, reaching for the vest that sat neatly on a shelf.

"Um, we're goin' to a convention." Olivia slid the vest on as Axel knelt down and started hooking the wings around Reuben's middle. " _Somebody's_ gotta wear a costume." He slid the helmet over the pig's head, and Reuben squealed excitedly. He started running around in circles; Jesse quickly shut the trap door before Reuben fell through. Olivia finished clasping her vest closed and pulled a new belt around her waist as she watched him.

"Well, as long as he's happy, I'm happy." Jesse placed her hand on her hips as Reuben jumped up on a shelf. He snorted at her, then jumped back down and waddled over to Axel.

"Are you happy?" Axel looked down at him, and he snorted once. Olivia grinned, shaking her head slightly in amusement. "Well zippity-doo-dah." Axel grinned, leaning down and patting Reuben on the head.

"You definitely brought the fireworks, right?" Olivia pulled the trap door open again.

"Yes, I'm ready." Axel moved to follow her. "Waiting on you guys." Olivia glanced at Reuben, then at Jesse.

"If he was really your best friend, you wouldn't let him go outside dressed like that." She quirked an eyebrow. Jesse shrugged.

"The only thing harder than putting a costume on a pig," she paused, making a face, "is trying to take it off." Olivia forced down a giggle.

"Hurry up and grab your stuff." Axel approached the door as Olivia lowered herself onto the ladder.

"We'll meet you downstairs, okay?" Jesse nodded, and she started down the ladder.

"Okay." The other woman called after her.

Olivia quickly descended the ladder and stepped aside so Axel could get down as well.

"You-" Olivia started as Axel stepped back from the ladder.

" _Yes_ , Olivia, I have them," he said firmly. Olivia cracked a grin.

"I'm just messing with you." She muffled a giggle with her hand. Axel rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Wow, thanks." Olivia's giggles couldn't be muffled with just one hand. It took a minute to stop laughing, and when she had, Jesse was halfway down the ladder, Reuben under her arm. Jesse hopped off the last couple of rungs, letting Reuben down, and he trotted towards the path a few steps. She turned sending them a grin.

"That's everything." Olivia placed a hand on her hip, returning Jesse's grin as the other woman nodded.

"Let's roll." Olivia glanced at Axel as he motioned towards the unofficial path.

"Yeah, dude." Olivia rolled her eyes, allowing her hand to slip down to her side again. "Roll."

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 **AN: And after a month of writing, and ending up with like 12 chapters, the first chapter is up! Updates will hopefully be daily, assuming I can keep caught up that is.**

 **Until next time!**


	2. Plans

"Let's go." Jesse shot an amused glance at Axel, and started down the path. Olivia stepped around to walk to Jesse's left, while Axel stuck to the right. Reuben was trotting along behind them. No one spoke for a few seconds, before Axel straightened slightly.

"I heard a pretty juicy rumor about the building competition," Olivia glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, "but you guys have to promise not to say _anything_." He motioned with his hands for emphasis, sticking them out slightly before dropping them again.

"Okay." Olivia gave a small nod.

"Also, it's in two parts." He grinned. "Each more exciting than the last."

"Spit it out, Axel."

"Part one, the special guest at this year's EnderCon is none other than Gabriel the Warrior him-freaking-self." Olivia blinked, eyes widening. She shared an excited glance with Jesse.

"W-what's part two?" Jesse bounced on the balls of her feet. Axel grinned in amusement.

"Part two, according to my sources, the winners of the building competition are gonna get to meet him." Axel grinned wider, then looked back at the path. "It doesn't mean anything if we lose. But if we win…" He trailed off.

"That would be amazing." Jesse had a bit of a spring in her step, any nerves long forgotten. Olivia looked forwards again.

There was a poster on one of the trees ahead. And two on the one beside that. And another on a tree past both of those. There were posters on literally every tree within Olivia's vision at the moment. She glanced to her left at one of the passing posters, then at Axel, who seemed to not have noticed.

"Does this… 'Source' of yours make posters for a living?" Axel glanced at her, then at the trees. Jesse seemed to take notice of the multitude of banners on the trees as well. The three of them stopped walking, taking in the odd sight.

"Yeah, uh… My source doesn't… Exist." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "You guys are my only friends."

Jesse rubbed an arm. "C'mon, we need to stay focused i-if we wanna win this year." They started walking again, and Olivia glanced sideways at Jesse.

"We never win." She pointed out. Jesse looked at her. "And this year, we've got Reuben with us." Jesse's brows furrowed. "People don't usually like animals at the competitions. Remember last time we brought him?"

"Don't remind me…" Jesse sighed, looking at the ground. They had taken Reuben a few years ago, when it was their fifth year competing. Some hungry attendee had almost mistaken him for a wild pig. They had been lucky to find him when they had. He wasn't hurt, luckily, but it had scared Jesse out of her wits, and she almost refused to let him out of her sight for a couple of weeks.

"I'm just saying. We basically have no chance." Olivia's gaze fell to the floor, and she glared at the grass underneath her.

"B-but we could still win. Anything could happen." Jesse bumped her hand against Olivia's arm, catching her attention again. She raised an eyebrow in response.

"We say that every year. And we've lost every year, nine years in a row," she countered. "We won our first competition, but that was only because no one else there knew what they were doing."

The competition had always- well, as far as she knew- allowed anyone who was thirteen and up to compete. Technically, if she'd had another team, she could have competed a year longer than Jesse had, since Jesse was almost a year younger than her. But, since Jesse was her only friend at the time, she waited until the other was old enough to compete. They hadn't realized that you need a team of three to five people to compete at all, and since Reuben didn't count, they almost had to give up on it. Luckily, Axel was there, and they decided on a whim to team up. They'd been friends ever since.

"That doesn't mean anything." Axel snorted. "They don't count your scores from previous years. That'd be unfair, because once a team wins, they're at the top until they decide to quit. No one else gets a chance."

He had a fair point. "Still."

"We could still win, though. J-just because we always say that and end up wrong doesn't mean it's impossible." Jesse smiled encouragingly. "It just means we're determined to be _right_ this time." Olivia let a smile slide onto her lips as she sighed, shaking her head.

"Alright, fine." Jesse grinned wider, obviously satisfied with her answer.

"Wait." Jesse's smile fell, as she looked forwards, almost seeming unfocused. "Wait wait wait… W-we're thinking about this all wrong. The point of the competition isn't just to _build_ something… We need to- to _do_ something to get noticed by the judges."

"Okay then." Olivia sped up a bit, then stopped and turned to face Jesse again. Axel did the same, completing their odd little circle. "So how do we do this?"

"We don't just build something _functional_ , we build something _fun_." Jesse placed her hands on her hips. "After we finish the fireworks machine like we planned, we build something cool o-on top of it." Olivia mimicked Jesse's movement and placed her hands on her own hips.

"You might be onto something." Jesse grinned again.

"If you wanna get a reaction out of the judges, you build something scary." Olivia looked up at Axel. "So I say we build a creeper."

"Wouldn't an enderman be better?" The engineer lifted an eyebrow. "I'm more scared of endermen than creepers." She let her arms drop. Axel placed his hands on his hips. The motion seemed to be cycling between each of them.

"They both have their moments." He looked at Jesse, arms dropping again. "Both pretty scary."

"Then again," Olivia's tone turned somewhat annoyed, "you scared the crap out of us with a creeper today." Axel shot her an amused grin. She rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips again as she turned her attention to Jesse. The other woman was staring past them thoughtfully, a hand on her chin.

"So… You're not gonna…" Axel lifted his hands, motioning circles to try and encourage a response. "You don't wanna just weigh in with your opinion, or…" Olivia took on a look of concern as Jesse didn't even look as if she heard them. "Y'know, just say words?" Jesse's attention snapped back to them, and she shrugged uncomfortably. Olivia turned and shared a glance with Axel. He grinned, placing his hands on his hips again. "Creeper it is, then."

Olivia sighed, putting her face in her hands exasperatedly for a second, then lifted her gaze back to Jesse, brushing a few loose curls from her eyes. "Think we've got everything we need?"

Jesse tapped her chin momentarily. "Guess it wouldn't hurt to grab a little more…" She paused. "Plus, we need wool for the creeper…"

"I can get that." Olivia offered. Jesse nodded, pulling her shears from her pocket and passing them to her. Olivia quickly pocketed the tool, sending a small grin towards Jesse. "We need dye too, right? We can get the black from squids in the pond over there." She motioned with a hand. Jesse glanced behind her at the pond, then shrugged.

"I'll get that." She paused. "But what about the green? W-we don't have time to go looking for cacti."

"I can look for Petra." Axel lifted a hand. "I'm pretty sure she frequents these woods, and she's gotta have _something_ with how much trading she does." Jesse nodded, her previous concern covered by renewed excitement.

"There's no way we can lose this year." Jesse grinned. "We're so prepared!" She stuck her hand out towards them, palm down. Axel placed his hand over hers, Olivia doing the same. Reuben jumped up and balanced on his hind legs, and Jesse took hold of one of his hooves. "Ready? 'Team' on three." Olivia nodded. "One… Two… Three!"

"Team!" Olivia threw her hand up and cheered with the others. Then, after sharing a final grin with each other, they all turned around and took off in different directions.


	3. Dyed Wool

Olivia pushed past a few bushes into a small clearing. There weren't sheep, but the second she stepped into it, she heard one. It was close; where there was one, there was bound to be several. She glanced to the right, where she was pretty sure the noise had come from. Approaching the foliage carefully, she slowly parted the bushes. Sure enough, behind the bushes, was a flock of sheep; there were about twenty of them, grazing and standing around. For just a moment, she watched them. Then, she sighed, slumping and dangling her arms down.

This would take a while.

They needed a _lot_ of wool for this. The machine itself was planned to have a six-by-six-block square base, then the scaffolding stretching up to make the whole thing eleven blocks tall. The creeper they were building was bound to be at least six blocks wide, and at least eleven blocks tall, assuming they weren't going all the way around the scaffolding… Plus the legs at the bottom...

No, that would take way too long. It would probably go only in front of the scaffolding. But even with that, they would need at _least_ a hundred and two blocks of wool. She only got one to three blocks of wool from a sheep, and they already had about thirty blocks. That leaves… Seventy-two more blocks of wool. At least.

That was a lot of sheep.

She sighed, then straightened. Might as well get started. Olivia approached the first sheep, starting to cut away the wool. Properly shearing a sheep was a lot more complicated and took a lot more time. She was just lucky that sheep didn't mind getting sheared. If they fought with her, that would make the process so much longer, and they didn't have that kind of time. Of course, Olivia was forced to shear as quickly as possible, which meant being inconsistent and not getting every last bit of wool.

Wool was only one of the things they needed in the next hour. Besides the wool, they needed dye; black dye wasn't hard to get, but the lime green…

"Hey, Olivia."

Olivia jumped and dropped the shears, fumbling and failing to catch them before they hit the ground. Whoever it was that had snuck up on her was muffling laughter as she leaned over to pick the tool up, before turning to see who it was.

"Sorry," a familiar redhead stepped away from the tree she was leaning against, a hint of laughter still in her voice. "Didn't mean to scare you." Olivia blinked, then let out a breath she hadn't intended to hold.

"Hi Petra." She turned to fully face her. The other woman, swung her pickaxe to rest on her shoulder, glancing at the sheep.

"Why are you getting wool? You guys usually have all of your materials by now." She glanced back to her, quirking an eyebrow. Olivia sighed.

"We decided on an addition to it last minute. And that addition involves a lot of wool." She pat the sheep beside her on the shoulder. "The problem is, we don't have any dye. And we don't have time to get any."

"Oh," Petra shifted her weight, "what color? I probably have some. Or can get some if not."

"I- really?" Olivia's eyes widened slightly. She was honestly expecting to have to ask. "You'd do that?"

"Sure." She shrugged, seeming faintly amused by how surprised Olivia was. "I do tons of trades; I get all kinds of stuff. Including dye. Just tell me what color."

"Uh… Thanks." Olivia shook off her surprise. "We need lime green dye." Petra looked thoughtful for a moment.

"... Yeah, I have some of that. How much of it do you need?" She dropped her pickaxe so it rested on the ground, leaning on it. Olivia paused. They would probably want extra, just in case Olivia ended up with more wool than she was already planning on getting. So… 105? 110?

"About… Well, we're gonna need a lot of it for how much wool we have to get…" She trailed off. She was almost embarrassed to ask for so much.

"Olivia, I have _plenty_." Petra waved a hand. "Some guy gave me enough to dye like 200 wool blocks once. And no one ever needs dye half the time. Or at least not from me." She paused, thoughtfully. "Here, how about I just bring what I have and meet you at the competition. There's still like an hour until it starts. That's plenty of time to dye everything, and get all that wool in the first place."

"Uh, alright." Olivia blinked. "What do you want in return?"

Petra thought for a minute. "Hmm… I'll let you know. For now it's payment enough to be taking some of it off my hands. All of my stuff smells." She made a face. Olivia smiled in amusement. "Well. Good luck on getting all that wool; I've got a couple other things to get to. See you at the competition." Petra swung her pickaxe back onto her shoulder, and gave a half wave, before turning away.

"Thank you. See you then." Olivia waved as Petra vanished through the trees. She glanced at the sheep beside her, sighing and continuing to shear the wool off.

It didn't take long for her to get all of the wool from one sheep, and begin working with the next. She remembered Jesse showing her how to do this once; the other woman had grown up on a farm in a big family, so she knew just about everything about livestock. Olivia had been under the assumption that the sheep hated this. It turned out that, if anything, they might dislike it, but still put up with it, since they like the aftermath of having all that weight taken off. The sheep Jesse had been demonstrating on had been one that really enjoyed it, as when she was done it was trotting all over and spinning around.

Before she knew it, Olivia had taken the wool off of all the sheep in the group. She glanced around, then sighed, counting the wool she had gathered.

Forty-five blocks, totalling in seventy-five. That was more than half of what she needed, at least. She didn't have time to wait for these ones to regenerate their wool, though; she remembered seeing white when she had motioned to the pond. That would be a good place to look. She pushed through the bushes making her way back to where they had split up.

Axel was there, standing around with his arms folded. He spotted her quickly.

"Hey. You done?" He called over. Olivia brushed some leaves and stray wool from her shirt.

"No. Almost." She passed him, then paused. "Oh, Petra found me while I was over there. She's gonna meet us at the competition with the dye we need."

"Yeah, she told me." He made a face of mock-annoyance, and continued in a teasing tone. "Thanks for stealing my job."

Olivia turned and gave a wide curtsey. "Anytime," she teased back. They muffled snorts, then giggled as Olivia turned and continued towards the pond.

Across the water, there were a couple of sheep drinking from the pond; Olivia could see more behind them. She walked around the edge of the pond, approaching slowly as to not scare the sheep away. One of them glanced at her, then went back to the pond. Once she had reached the first one, she quickly went to work.

These sheep were much happier than the other flock. The first sheep she started shearing was way more patient than any of the other flock's, and the second she finished with the first one, it started running around, bleating at all of the other sheep. A lamb sniffed at it's now-bare friend, then trot over and sniffed at Olivia. She laughed, patting its head, before continuing her work.

Working around an excited lamb was a lot harder than she had anticipated. The little ball of energy was under her feet and nosing at her hands while she tried her hardest not to cut the other sheep by accident. It took about a minute for Olivia to finally pause her work, putting Jesse's shears aside and lifting the lamb up. It started bleating at her, looking all over as she carried it into the center of the flock.

"Sorry, you're too little for me to take your wool." She smiled apologetically, despite the fact that the lamb probably couldn't understand her, and placed it on the ground beside the bare sheep. This seemed to distract it enough that she could get back to work.

She got through three more sheep before the lamb came back. Though, this time, it plopped down beside her and watched closely, rather than interfering. The lamb started to remind her of Reuben a little bit; curious and active, but also smart and knowing of its boundaries. She didn't risk looking at it and causing it to be nosy again, so she ignored it and continued.

She finished shearing the last sheep with a total of fifty-seven blocks. Which meant they had a hundred and thirty-two blocks to work with. That should be plenty.

As she walked back to the clearing, dusting herself off again as she went, she silently calculated out how much dye they needed from Petra. If they had a hundred and thirty-two blocks of wool, and they needed some black wool… If they were to add four rows of wool to the top of the build, it would use up all of the wool. which meant they needed about twenty black wool blocks. That meant they needed… a hundred and twelve lime green blocks.

"Oh, there you are." Olivia looked up. She was back in the clearing, the other three already back. "D-did you get the wool?"

"Yep." She passed the shears to Jesse, who quickly pocketed them. "There is a lot of wool, though."

"How much wool?" Axel placed a hand on his hip curiously. She looked at him a moment.

"I have two stacks of sixty-four and one of four. So… A hundred and thirty-two blocks of wool." Axel blinked.

"How did you get so much in only half an hour?"

Olivia just shrugged.

"W-well, let's get going. We don't wanna keep Petra waiting i-if she's already there." Jesse motioned to the path, and they continued on.

* * *

 **AN: So a little thing to clarify I guess. I'm kinda treating dye as an item that's considered decently valuable when it's properly made. Bad under/overcooked dyes are common and cheap, while actual good dye is a bit harder to find.**

 **This whole chapter felt like a math problem.**

 **Until next time!**


	4. Handshakes

"So." Olivia glanced at Jesse. "We should probably plan out how we're gonna build the creeper." The other woman nodded, and Axel turned to look at her. "I have all that wool. The scaffolding is already gonna be six-by-eleven-by-six. We can't go all the way around."

"Yeah, that'd take way too l-long." Jesse nodded.

"So if the body of the creeper is six-by-fifteen, the legs could be six-by-five, with three blocks vertically on either side of the bottom, and three blocks horizontally at the base of that." Jesse nodded again, but Axel just blinked.

"Are you picturing that in your head or something? That's really specific." He motioned with a hand to add emphasis. Olivia shrugged in response.

"Hey, at least it's planned out." She pointed out. Axel shrugged.

"Yeah," Jesse smiled. The competition was in view now. The whole thing was surrounded by fence, with a center platform and a few sectioned-off areas. The sign-in desk had someone at it already, and the gates beside it were still open. They had plenty of time.

"We know what we're building, we have all the stuff for it," Axel grinned, sharing a determined look with Olivia, "we are _so_ ready." Olivia grinned.

"I'm not just ready to build," Jesse glanced back at her, "I'm ready to _win_." As she spoke, a random attendee- or was he a competitor?- walked past them, wearing a Soren hat from a previous con.

"Nice pig, losers." He sneered as he passed, walking off through the gates. Jesse flinched, Reuben gave an offended snort, and Olivia placed her hands on her hips glaring after him; Axel glared as well. They all stopped walking a moment, Jesse rubbing the side of her head in slight discomfort. Axel was the first to speak up again.

"Oh, _great_ , there's Lukas and the Ocelots." He folded his arms as they started forwards again, albeit a bit slower than before. "The rivalry continues." Olivia followed his gaze to the front desk, where a small group stood around it, obviously signing in. Olivia noticed Maya first; she was standing to the left, her long hair easy enough to distinguish from her teammates' shorter hair. Lukas was the one signing them in, while Gill and Aiden stood next to the gate to their right. They each wore a black leather jacket, an ocelot head embroidered on the back.

"Man. They've got matching leather jackets and everything." Olivia tried and failed to cover her discouragement with apathy. Axel sighed.

"So cool…" He sounded just as discouraged. Jesse turned to say something, but Aiden had overheard them, and was turning towards them with a grin Olivia knew meant they were in for some insults.

"Well, well, well," he sneered. Gill and Maya turned to look at them as well. "If it isn't the Order of the Losers."

Maya snickered. "Great, the fail squad's here."

"Lukas," Gill was laughing as he spoke, bumping the blond's back with his hand, "get a load of these losers." Lukas turned, glancing briefly at Jesse, before sending a hard look at the back of Gill's head.

"Let's go, guys." Lukas spoke in a soft voice, before walking past them to the entrance gates. Maya and Gill followed him, almost disappointedly, while Aiden sent them a final sneer before turning on his heel and following his team. The woman at the desk watched them a moment, then turned and smiled at Jesse.

"Name, please?" She tapped a quill against the counter.

"Axel, and uh, how do you do?" Olivia shot Axel a sideways glance. The woman behind the counter narrowed her eyes slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"No, your team name." She smiled again. Axel blinked, and Olivia resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Team name?" Axel slumped. "We are not ready for this."

"So much for losing anonymously," Olivia sighed, placing her hands on her hips. No one responded to this as they each tried to come up with a name, all the while ignoring the muffled giggles coming from the Ocelots. Olivia glanced at Jesse; the other woman was rubbing an arm. She looked at Reuben, who was simply watching the trees. She swore she heard Aiden mutter another "Order of the Losers" to Maya, who snickered. For some reason, the two things connected, and Olivia tapped Jesse's arm. She turned to look at her curiously. Though, apparently Axel hadn't caught on.

"No name?" He glanced at Jesse. The woman behind the counter opened her mouth to speak, but Olivia cut her off.

"What about Order of the Pig?" Jesse blinked. "Y'know, because we have Reuben." For a moment, Jesse looked thoughtful, but after a second or two, her eyes lit up in understanding, and she nodded. Reuben oinked excitedly.

"Order of the Pig?" The woman started scribbling something on a clipboard. "Alright, you guys are in Booth 5!" She smiled again, then motioned to the gates. Axel was the first one to move, starting through the gates. He promptly got stuck; he lifted his hands a bit, looking at the fence beside him, then placed his hands on either side of the gate and pushed. He struggled for a second, then managed to swing forwards and escape. As he did, the Ocelots started snickering again, walking off to their own booth. Olivia followed Axel in, rubbing her thumb with her index finger. Jesse and Reuben were right behind her.

When they found their booth, Olivia saw right away that the Ocelots had the next booth over. They were digging around in a chest they had brought. Olivia placed a hand on her hip, sighing as she turned away from their booth to examine the space they had. The back corner was on a bit of a hill, but other than that, it was very flat; plenty of space to fit their build.

"Is that a freakin' beacon? They have a freakin' _beacon_?" Olivia blinked, looking at Axel, then back at the Ocelots. "Freakin' _beacon_?!"

The added emphasis wasn't going to waste; sure enough, Lukas was pulling a beacon from the chest, walking over to where they were placing their other materials. Aiden was holding a block of pink stained glass, saying something to Lukas as he passed. Maya pulled some blue stained glass from the chest and followed Lukas.

"That's stained glass." Olivia glanced at the growing pile of colorful glass in the Ocelot's booth. "They aren't just building a beacon. They're building a _rainbow_ beacon!" Jesse moved to stand next to her, peering at the glass a moment. "We're gonna lose." Jesse didn't say anything, and Olivia didn't need to look to know why Axel wasn't talking. "Close your mouth, Axel." He presumably did so. "We should probably stop staring at them-"

There was laughter. She had spoken too late; Gill had noticed them, and motioned with a hand while looking to Aiden. "Look, it's the Order of the Losers." Aiden glanced over his shoulder as Maya grinned. "Again."

"Good one, Gill!" Maya laughed. Olivia narrowed her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.

"We're just looking," she said flatly. Aiden turned to face them, grinning.

"There'll be plenty of time for you all to look at it after it wins and gets shown at EnderCon." Gill and Maya stood smiling behind him.

"You're being unpleasant." Axel shifted behind Olivia.

"Maybe not all of you." Aiden folded his arms. Olivia didn't like his tone. "EnderCon doesn't allow outside food or drink." He turned his gaze to Reuben, narrowing his eyes. Reuben flinched and backed up, hitting Olivia's leg with a wing. When Jesse didn't respond, Aiden turned his gaze back to her. "I'm talking about your pig!" Jesse still didn't respond; Olivia glanced at her to find she had a conflicted look on her face, torn between hurt and defensive. "I'm saying he's food." Olivia turned to glare at him.

"Quit wasting your time, Aiden!" Lukas was standing by the chest again, motioning at their pile in annoyance. "We've got work to do!" Aiden watched the blond a moment. Olivia grinned slightly, and he turned to glare at them again.

"You're lucky I'm busy." He sneered.

"Hey, Jesse." Olivia flinched in surprise, turning towards the source of the new voice. "Guys." A redhead with a blue bandana tying her hair back stood on Jesse's other side. Petra had approached from behind them, a pickaxe resting on her shoulder.

"Hi Petra." Jesse gave a small wave. She glanced past them to the booth.

"How's the build going?"

"Only time will tell," Axel spoke up, "but we're optimistic."

"Hey, Petra." Lukas walked forwards, waving to the redhead. "I forgot to thank you for that nether star." Olivia blinked. So _that's_ where the beacon came from. It made sense, now that she thought about it; there weren't any shops that sold beacons. Not any that were in the area, at least.

"Hey Lukas. Not a problem," Petra casually shrugged.

"You helped these tools?" Axel questioned, causing Lukas to send him a look. Olivia glanced at him, then back at Petra.

"For the right price, I'll help anyone." Petra shrugged again. "Oh, I've got the dye you asked for." She dropped her pickaxe, leaning it against the fencepost. "How much did you end up needing?" Lukas waved his team away to continue preparing.

Olivia cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Enough for a hundred and twelve blocks." Petra wasn't the one who looked surprised. Lukas had raised his eyebrows from where he was digging through his team's chest again. Petra was digging through a bag, counting silently. Jesse glanced at Olivia.

"I-I thought Axel was gonna find Petra," she whispered. Olivia shrugged.

"Petra found me first."

"Here you go. Petra held out the bag, which Olivia could hear was filled with little dye containers. Petra herself was shoving a handful of them into her pocket. Jesse took the bag.

"Thanks again." Olivia shot the redhead a grin. Petra nodded once

"Sure, anything for a friend. Just get that back to me when you can, I kinda need it." Jesse nodded. "If you need anything," she continued as she picked up her pickaxe and walked off towards the woods, "you know where to find me." Olivia made a face.

"None of us know where to find you," she pointed out. Petra didn't even hesitate.

"Exactly."

"No hard feelings, guys." Her attention turned back to Lukas, who was walking back over. "If you're cool with Petra, you're cool with us." Olivia struggled to not roll her eyes at that. "So why don't we just forget about all this, and… Y'know, make this about how cool our builds are." He tried a wary smile.

"M-may the best team win." Jesse returned the wary grin. Lukas' smile turned casual.

"Careful what you wish for." Olivia struggled not to snort at that, opting to rolling her eyes instead.

Jesse moved off to a crafting table to begin dying the wool. Olivia followed behind her, pulling as much wool as she could from her pockets. Jesse took the first stack, as well as a sixty-four bottle collection of the dye containers, and placed them in separate squares on the table. Sure enough, the items shook in place for a moment, then slammed together with a sort of sloshing noise. Left in its place was a sixty-four stack of lime green dye.

Olivia separated the other sixty-four stack into a stack of forty-eight and a stack of sixteen. She passed Jesse the larger stack, and put the other stack with the remaining white wool. After a moment, the noise repeated, and Jesse passed her more lime wool. Olivia handed her the remaining white wool, taking the bag and pocketing it as she did so. Jesse pulled some squid ink out of her pocket, and soon enough, the items shook for a third time, and they had a stack of black wool.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" Olivia's attention turned to the center of the competition, where the woman from the front desk was standing on the center platform. She started to back into their booth again, as did Jesse. "Welcome to the EnderCon Building Competition!" Her words were met with clapping and cheers. "The winners of this year's competition will have their build featured at EnderCon. The winners will also meet, in person, Gabriel the Warrior!" Olivia clapped excitedly, turning to face Jesse, who was doing the same.

"Ocelots!" A collective shout caught her attention; she looked over at the next booth to see the Ocelots doing some form of handshake. "Ocelots!" Aiden and Gill were bumping their hands together, as were Maya and Lukas, before they turned and bumped chests; Maya with Gill and Aiden with Lukas.

"Whoa, handshake? We don't have a handshake." Olivia looked at Jesse, who shrugged mildly.

"I always considered our hands-in-the-middle thing to be a-a handshake," she admitted. Olivia blinked, sharing a glance with Axel, before turning her gaze back to Jesse.

"You've got a point." She shrugged, then glanced back at the woman in the center. "I'm still nervous, though."

"Hey, we can do this!" Jesse lifted her hands determinedly. "J-just stick to the plan, and everything will be fine." Olivia nodded slowly. "This year, the Order of the Pig can't lose!" She held out her hand, palm down. Olivia glanced at Axel, then shared a grin as the other placed his hand on top of Jesse's. Olivia followed suit, placing her's on top of his. Reuben balanced on his hind legs, and Jesse grabbed hold of one of his hooves. They glanced between one another, sharing determined smiles.

"Let's do it!" Axel grinned wider. They all retracted their hands, quickly getting into position.

"Building..." Olivia braced herself.

"Starts…" Jesse pat Reuben on the head, while Axel retrieved some wood from his pockets.

" _Now!_ "

* * *

 **AN: A second chapter today since the last one was so complicated, heh. This one's also a bit longer than the others.**

 **Ariza Luca: yeah, i did a** ** _lot_** **of math. too much math. also, yep that's me! you're quite welcome, i really love hybrid! good job! :3c**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Track

The three of them got to work immediately. Olivia started on the base wiring as Jesse and Axel began building up the structure. Of course, building things never takes long; Olivia quickly found herself at the top of the structure, connecting a dispenser with the rest of the line. Redstone smudged her hands, coating almost all of her fingers in the dust. She stepped around the lied out lines of dust and maneuvered to the other dispenser, placing a repeater down as she did.

"Oh, a fireworks dispenser? I'm so _scared!_ " Olivia glanced at the neighboring build, where Aiden was sneering at Jesse. The other woman, who was placing the last block of the backing structure down, paused and narrowed her eyes at him. Then, without a word, continued her work. "What, nothing to say?" Aiden snickered.

"Aiden, come on!" Lukas jumped down to his teammate's level, gesturing to something on their build. Aiden rolled his eyes, but listened to the blond.

Olivia was finishing the last of the redstone wiring when Axel and Jesse jumped off the build to start on the creeper. She dusted her hands off as best she could, then hopped down to join them. She passed the others some green wool, and they started building.

It took almost no time for them to finish the mob, and Olivia quickly wired the lever to the rest of the redstone.

"The moment of truth…" Jesse mumbled, glancing down at Reuben, who was watching from beside the sign. Olivia glanced down at the pig for a moment, then looked down at the scaffolding. For a minute, she suddenly wondered if she had done this right. What if she smudged some of the redstone while they were building? What if she hadn't wired something correctly. She glanced at every visible line of redstone, silently double checking everything. She then looked at Jesse, who smiled and nodded.

"Here goes nothing…" Olivia took a deep breath in, then leaned down and flipped the lever. Not a second passed before something shot up behind her, and a loud whistling crack boomed above her head. She turned as another shot up from the other side, watching the fireworks shoot way up into the sky, before bursting into a bright explosion of color. She smiled, sharing an excited look with Axel.

"People are looking at us…!" Jesse nudged Axel's arm, causing him to turn around. Olivia followed suit, finding about half of the competition's attendees at the base of their build, and the other half watching from a distance. A few people pumped their fists in the air excitedly.

"Good build, man!" The man from before, the one who had made fun of Reuben, beamed up at them in amazement. Olivia felt a sort of pride well in her chest, smiling as she glanced back at the redstone behind her. A few more people started cheering below.

Suddenly, a terrified squeal rung out from below them. Olivia's gaze snapped back to Reuben, only to see his right wing flaming, a small pool of lava forming right beside him.

"Oh no-!" Jesse cut herself off with her hands meeting her mouth. Reuben was squealing like crazy, running in circles to try and escape the flames. People were shouting below, trying to get someone to block off the lava before it could spread. But, no one was doing anything, and the lava continued to close in on their build. Reuben darted away, squealing all the while as he disappeared into the trees. "No, wait! Reuben!" Jesse's calls were unanswered as she tried to catch the retreating pig's attention. She had no luck.

"It was Aiden! That punk!" Axel clenched a fist, glaring down at the aforementioned man as he backed away from the lava.

"The lava's getting closer!" Olivia stared wide-eyed at the bright flow that was nearly to the base of their build.

"It's gonna ruin the build!" Axel looked wildly around a moment.

"Reuben's going to get lost!" She glanced at Jesse, who was still staring after Reuben desperately. "We've gotta do something!"

"But our build's about to go up in flames!" Olivia glared at Axel's back. Jesse glanced back at them.

"Axel, come on! Jesse needs our help!" Axel looked at her for a second, then at the wool under him, then finally at Jesse.

"Alright!" He crouched slightly, pulling his hands back. Then without warning, his hands shot forwards, shoving Jesse right over the edge of the wool. Olivia jumped back a step, nearly falling off the other end.

"Axel!" Her scolding tone went unnoticed, as Axel was hopping off the side of the build after their friend. Olivia sighed, then moved forwards and did the same.

Axel hadn't had a chance to move yet, so she landed right on top of him, knocking him down. She struggled to gather her bearings, rolling off of Axel's back and pushing herself up. As she straightened, she noted Aiden lying on his back a few feet away.

"We're right behind you!" Olivia took off, running into the forest. She followed Jesse down the unofficial pathway, passing between two stone walls. She nearly ran right into her friend as Jesse suddenly skid to a stop.

Skidding to a stop as well, Olivia looked towards the other two. "It's gonna be dark soon, we need to hurry."

"He could've gone anywhere, and this part of the woods is huge." Axel slowed to a stop beside them. Jesse glanced behind her, then back at Axel.

"It'll be faster if we split up," she offered. Olivia nodded.

"How are we gonna know when someone finds him?" Axel glanced between her and Jesse. Jesse glanced at him, then turned to look at her.

"Uh… Let's meet up in an half an hour at EnderCon's gates. If we find him, awesome. If we don't, we'll figure it out from there." Olivia took on an instructive tone as she spoke. Axel nodded once, while Jesse hesitated, then gave a tiny nod as well. "If you get lost, use the lights from EnderCon to get back to Mescue. Got it?" The other two nodded again. "Good. Meet you guys there. Good luck!"

"Good luck!" Jesse called, then turned and took off. Olivia gave a nod to Axel, then turned and hurried into the woods.

She was forced to slow down as she began pushing her way past bushes and foliage. It was thicker here; branches scratched her arms and bushes pulled at her clothes.

She wasn't really sure where to start. Where would Reuben go if he ran into the woods? Assuming he wasn't blinded by fear, he was pretty predictable. He knew how to navigate very well for a pig; most pigs they came across would wander aimlessly, in circles around the forest, or even get themselves stuck. She remembered seeing one in a tree once; Jesse said they'd do just about anything when threatened. So Reuben, the little runt, would probably run for familiar territory. So that meant…

Their treehouse.

Olivia tripped on a tree root. Of course, he'd head to their treehouse! They weren't far from a stream there, and all of them knew exactly how to get to it.

Olivia shoved a bush aside and started towards home.

She knew enough of the woods to find her way into familiar territory quickly. And once she found the mass of trees with posters on almost every side, she knew exactly which way to go. She turned to the South, hurrying away from the poster trees.

Sure enough, it only took a few minutes to reach the treehouse, and from there, she turned East. The trees and foliage grew thicker as she walked, branches scratching at her clothes. There wasn't a pathway to her destination, but she knew exactly how to get there.

Jesse had been the one to find the stream, stumbling upon it by quite literally falling into it. Olivia had returned from town as Jesse pushed through the foliage, completely soaked, and told her about the adventure she had getting out of the shallow stream that had several slippery rocks at the bottom. After changing into dry clothes, she showed Olivia the way there, and they'd used it as a water source ever since.

Olivia shoved a bush aside and stepped into the clearing. The stream was still as full as it always was. Which, considering how shallow it was already, wasn't much. The bank on her side was larger than the other; trees lined the clearing behind her, with rocks lining the other bank. A small waterfall was to her right at the far end of the clearing, and the other had too thick of foliage to get through.

No sign of the pig she was looking for.

Olivia let out a sigh, her head falling back so she could see the sky. Reality snapped back as she noticed the darkening sky. Spawn was soon; if she got caught out here, she'd never be able to make it to EnderCon. Even with how close she was to home, she wasn't skilled enough in combat to make it there without getting hurt at the very least. And considering she would be wandering a crowded set of streets, that was the last thing she wanted.

She turned, pushing back through the foliage. Luckily, so long as she wasn't sidetracked, she could at least make it into the light of Mescue before Spawn. So as long as nothing stopped her, she'd be fine.

* * *

 **AN: So I added names to times; Spawn, when mobs spawn and usually when everyone _has_ to be inside, and Burn or Burning, when all the nightly mobs catch fire. That's about it.**

 **Until next time!**


	6. EnderCon

Her walk towards the lit city was rather uneventful, thankfully. No mobs had spawned, and none of the mobs that could last in the sunlight were around. By the time she was in the ring of light surrounding the city, a short, loud chime echoed through the area from the noteblock sirens hooked up through the town. Sure enough, a few groans and rattling noises sounded faintly behind her, and she let out a sigh of relief. She had made it safely.

As she passed through the gates, the loud sounds of the Con began echoing through the emptied streets. Flashing lights got brighter as she walked closer to EnderCon's entrance. As soon as she passed through the gateway, it clicked to life.

The rainbow beacon, light flickering as it switched colors. Sounds of pistons and the crackling of redstone met her ears.

She had missed the winners announcement, and the Ocelots had won again. Damn it.

She moved to get out of the moving stream of people, stopping near the beacon. If she waited here, there was no doubt her friends would find her with ease. It was a tall, bright, color-changing light, after all. It would be hard not to notice it.

"Heh, hey, look who it is." Her patience dropped like a rock as the sneer sounded from nearby. She turned, allowing a tired, irritated look slide onto her features. Aiden was standing a few feet away, Maya and Gill on either side, and Lukas a little behind them, a look of impatient confusion flashing through his gaze. "One of the Order of the Losers, all alone."

"What do you want?" Olivia folded her arms with a huff. Aiden smirked, sharing a glance with Maya.

"No luck in finding that wittle piggy wiggy fwiend of yours?" Aiden spoke in a babying tone, putting his hands on his hips as he did. Olivia narrowed her eyes. Maya snickered.

"Come on, guys. Leave her alone." Lukas moved forwards and pushed Aiden aside gently. " _You're_ the one who started all of that."

"Yeah, whatever." Aiden made a face, waving a hand dismissively. "So. Looks like you and your little loser squad lost yet again." His mouth twitched up in a teasing smirk. Olivia made a face. Usually she would make a comment, but she was alone this time, and probably couldn't hold her own if she aggravated them. So, she simply stood and glared. "What, no comeback?" He sneered, stepping towards her. "You scared?"

"Back off, Aiden, seriously." Lukas pushed him with a little more force this time. "If you start a fight, we'll get kicked out, and then winning would've been pointless. Drop it already." Aiden made a face.

"Fine, fine." Maya sighed, folding her arms with a mild glare towards the blond. Lukas briefly returned it, and the other three walked off, starting up a conversation Olivia figured was about her or her friends. Lukas shot an odd glance her way, then followed after them.

Olivia huffed, turning back towards the gate. She glanced around the entrance, but saw no sign of either of her friends. They should have been back by now, Spawn was a few minutes ago. They had a general rule they shared, one that was pretty common among others as well; be inside or in light by Spawn. None of them were almost ever equipped to take on mobs, so it was just something they kept in general.

Another glance around the entrance let her know that the convention was starting; the entranceway was emptying rapidly. At least she would be able to spot Jesse or Axel easier now. She looked past the gateway, eyeing the exit from the city from her place a good sixty-ish meters away. There weren't any people entering the city anymore. She groaned. Hopefully they wouldn't be much longer; she was beginning to get nervous.

Honestly, she just hoped they came back at all. Mobs were easy enough to take care of if you had even a vague idea of how to handle them, and both of the others had that vague idea at the very least. Jesse she knew could handle herself; she was good with a sword, and it took quite a bit to get her cornered. Axel was probably safe too, as he usually resorted to punching pretty quickly. And while she- thankfully- couldn't speak from experience, she knew his hits could hurt. He _had_ knocked Aiden out with a single hit to the face one year, and that was evidence enough.

Olivia folded her arms, tapping her foot anxiously as she shot another glance around the Con entrance. Neither of her friends were there. Which probably meant they hadn't found Reuben either. And as much as she didn't want to, she found herself preparing for the worst; either not finding him at all, or finding a porkchop somewhere in the woods. She prayed that it was at least the first one; that way they could still find him, so long as nothing got to him before morning… Her foot tapping got faster.

"Olivia!" She looked up. Axel was approaching from the far side of the gate. "Easy with the tapping, it's not a race." She slapped his arm lightly when he was close enough, and he snickered. His smile quickly fell, however, as he shoved his hands in his sweater pockets. "No sign of 'im either, huh?"

"No, unfortunately." Olivia sighed. "Jesse isn't back yet, though; she could have found him."

Axel shrugged. "'Spose so."

Olivia shot another glance around the area and rubbed her arms. She wasn't particularly cold, but her nerves were making her tremble ever so slightly. Jesse was still nowhere to be seen.

Olivia silently wondered if Reuben would be able to find his way here from wherever he was if he needed to. He was smart for a pig, honestly speaking. He had a good set of habits that kept him alive through a few nighttime scares, and considering the multi colored beacon behind her was still going strong, he'd probably be able to see it for miles.

"Is that them?" Olivia glanced at Axel, then followed his finger to the entranceway. Two figures, a tall redheaded figure and a shorter brunette were walking towards the gates, a small pig trotting at the brunette's side. They looked like they were talking about something privately, as they were leaning towards each other slightly.

"Looks like it. Do you know anyone else with a pig?" Olivia placed a hand on her hip as relief spread over her.

"Point." Axel shrugged.

"Jesse!" Olivia hurried forwards as the figures grew closer, until she could clearly see Jesse's face. Therefore, she could see the redhead's as well. "And… Petra?"

"Hey guys." Petra waved casually. Olivia returned it, almost stunned by the fact that she had even shown face around a convention.

"What are you doing here? You aren't one for conventions." Axel placed a hand on his hip. Petra shrugged indifferently, shooting a lazy grin his way.

"I have a deal to do here. If it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't be." She glanced towards Jesse. "Plus, I was helping Jesse out of a bit of a scrabble with mobs."

Olivia glanced at Jesse. The brunette was a mess, her hair all over the place with bits of grass and leaves still in it, despite the fact that she was combing through it right then, and that it looked somewhat damp. It was much more obvious by the red streak in her hair, which was spread haphazardly, rather than a neat, solid line. Jesse glanced up briefly, and Olivia noted that her face was smeared with dirt, and she had a short cut diagonally across the bridge of her nose. Blood was smeared across her nose as well, but it was obvious the cut wasn't bleeding anymore. It wasn't much, but it was enough to startle her. She glanced down to Reuben; luckily, the only things he was sporting was a black eye and dirt smears.

"Oh, god, what happened?" Olivia put a hand to her chest. Jesse shot a nervous glance at her.

"S-some zombies got to him, but he held his own." She leaned down and pat Reuben on the head, and he gave a few content snorts.

"I think she meant you." Axel pocketed his hands again. Jesse straightened, blinking at him a moment, then scratched the back of her head.

"Spider," she said sheepishly. Olivia blinked, then shrugged nervously. Silence lapsed over them briefly as she turned to eye the beacon behind her.

"It still kinda sucks that Lukas and the Ocelots won again." She folded her arms as Axel turned to follow her gaze. "I mean, there was no way we were gonna let you go looking for Reuben on your own, but…"

"W-we can always try again next year." Jesse stepped forwards to stand beside Olivia. "Eleventh time's the charm, r-right?"

"I guess." Olivia let her arms drop.

"The spirit is willing," Axel spoke up, slumping ever so slightly, "but the flesh is sad."

"Hey," Petra stepped up to stand at Axel's other side. "If at first you don't succeed, then," she paused, obviously forgetting the rest of the phrase as the others looked at her, "succeed later than originally planned." She sent them a casual smile, completely ignoring the flaw in the phrase. Olivia smiled back, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to the beacon.

"Sure."

"Oh, Jesse." There wasn't even a second of pausing before Petra spoke up again. "It's time to go see about that… Thing." Olivia glanced at the redhead, then at Jesse. The brunette had a look of confusion on her face for a second, before it flickered to realization.

"O-oh, right." She shot a brief glance at Olivia, so quickly that Olivia could have imagined it if she didn't know the other woman so well. "The thing." Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Subtle."

Jesse glanced at her. "Yeah?"

"As a punch to the face." Jesse shrugged sheepishly, holding down a flinch. "Axel and I are gonna go into the convention." Jesse gave a small nod, and Axel grinned wildly.

"I heard there's free cake by the map booth." He turned and started towards the convention, a tiny spring in his step. Olivia rolled her eyes, smiling slightly as she shook her head.

"We'll meet you inside, okay?" Jesse nodded again.

"Okay." Olivia smiled a little wider, then waved to her as she turned around and followed Axel into the convention. He had hesitated a short distance away, waiting for her while impatiently bouncing on his toes.

"You didn't have to wait, you big child." She bumped a hand against his arm. He shrugged.

"Might as well. You want cake, don't you?" He glanced down at her, and she copied his shrug.

"Not really, actually." He looked incredulously at her for a moment, then looked back at the path with a face of realization.

"Oh, right. You don't like eating in crowds, that's right." She nodded, shrugging again. "Well, your loss. I could grab you some for later, if you want."

"No thanks." Olivia folded her hands behind her back and stretched her arms. "I doubt they'd let you take more than one anyways." He shrugged indifferently.

"Alright, fine." He paused. "Damn, I was gonna grab some for Jesse too. Eh, if she wants some, she'll probably go over herself." Olivia glanced at him, stepping around someone.

"Really? She barely goes up to a cashier in an empty store to pay for things without someone else. I doubt she's gonna go up and take cake from a crowded booth." She glanced at a booth that was selling hats. She might come back to look at those.

"Then I'll take her over to get some." He shrugged. Olivia rolled her eyes with a grin and a sigh.

"Go get your cake, I'm gonna look around." She started towards the end of the aisle.

"Alright. See ya!" Axel called after her, probably waving. Olivia waved back, not turning from the aisle end.

She passed a few more booths, scanning over what they offered as she went. A couple things caught her eye, such as a few redstone items or some necklace or other piece of jewelry that could reflect Con lights into her eyes. She would blink rapidly each time she came across one, then continue on. She made her way to the end of the aisle, then turned and started down the side.

Some booth caught her eye; it was no different from the other booths, but what it had on display was what caught her attention. A necklace was settled on the counter, surrounded by other jewelry and random knick knacks. The necklace wasn't anything too crazy; a silver chain with a small pendant shaped like the Order's symbol, which was an amulet many rumored could track the location of each member. She remembered Jesse talking about a thing like this last year; she had wanted to get it, but there had been too many people at the time, and when there weren't as many, all of the necklaces were gone.

She stopped just in front of the counter, carefully reaching forward to turn the charm over.

"I see you've taken an interest to that necklace there." Olivia jumped, head snapping up to the woman running the booth. "Quite a popular item."

"I- yeah." Olivia shrugged off her surprise, looking back to the necklace.

"You know, we've been having a deal here. Buy one thing, get another of the same item free." She glanced back at the woman thoughtfully. "Only useable once, though. There's too many people to just let it keep going for everyone." The woman folded her arms with a small smile. "Any interest?"

"Uh… Sure. How much is this?" The woman glanced at it.

"Five pieces." Olivia blinked. That was a pretty good deal. She dug her little pouch from her pocket, digging a small handful of currency from it and passing it to the woman. The other smiled, then dropped the coins into a pouch and dug around under the counter a moment. She pulled two small, slightly opaque pouches with a matching necklace inside each. Olivia took them, gave a thankful wave, and continued down the aisle as she pocketed them.

A few booths and several incidents involving bumping into others later, she found herself standing by the keynote gates, eyeing the distant Hall with a hint of disappointment. They had wanted to attend the keynote, but not only couldn't afford the tickets, but were too late. The keynote was supposed to mainly be a Q-and-A with Gabriel the Warrior, according to Axel, but in all honesty? Olivia kind of wanted to meet the rest of the Order too.

Sighing, she turned to examine the machine she stood next to. It was shaped like a chicken, with a small space in the head where several live chickens were running frantically around behind some glass panes. They seemed like they were in a panic, but according to her knowledge of chickens, they were almost always in panic. The rest of the machine was hidden under wool, and at the bottom was a pool of lava. The entire thing was surrounded by fence, with a man wearing a chicken shirt standing in front of it. Olivia figured it was his machine.

She decided to hang out there for a while; there wasn't much else she really wanted to do at the time. She could go look at more booths, but she decided to wait until the keynote started; it was bound to be less crowded once that was going on. She folded her arms, glancing around at the booths nearby. A woman in a green dress was making her way behind a counter to a booth with slime decorations, while a man climbed onto a slime block and began bouncing.

"Olivia?" Someone tapped on her shoulder. She turned around, finding Jesse standing behind her, hands wringing in front of her chest. "U-um… You know that thing that I had to go help P-Petra with?" Olivia nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Well, long story short, w-we met up with the person, he scammed Petra out of the deal, and now we're trying to find him… Will you help?"

Olivia blinked. He scammed _Petra_ out of a deal? If anyone was crazy enough to do that, they probably would have gotten whatever they needed themselves. Petra was known for going places most wouldn't dare to be near for items, so long as the buyer would pay the right price and hold their end of the deal. Those who didn't… Well, Olivia never actually knew what happened to them.

"Oh, I'm in alright." Olivia narrowed her eyes. Jesse gave a small, thankful smile.

* * *

 **AN: hahaha currency. so i'm just gonna say a "piece", which is probably just a little coin made of iron is worth like $5 in the US. there are some pieces that are made of gold and worth about $100.**

 **until next time!**


	7. Distractions

"Any sign of him?" They looked up to see Petra running up, Axel at her heels. Jesse gave a one-sided shrug.

"I thought I saw him earlier, but it was just a-a false alarm." She sounded sheepish. Petra sighed. A couple of seconds passed in silence, before Jesse suddenly let out a gasp. "W-wait, there he is!" They all turned to where the woman pointed to see a figure moving up the pathway to the Hall, where the keynote was supposed to be held. "Looks like he's… Headed towards the hall…?" Olivia's gaze fell from the retreating figure to the usher standing in front of the gate.

"We'll have to get past that usher to follow him," Petra mused. Jesse gave a silent nod of agreement, and she and the redhead lead the way up to the stocky blond.

"U-uh, hey…!" Jesse gave an awkward wave. The rest of them put on false smiles, feigning nonchalance.

"What would it take to get us inside tonight?" Petra placed a hand on her hip, using the other to gesture to the Hall. The usher blinked, then cracked a smile.

"Uh, tickets?" He started laughing. Their smiles fell; they glanced between each other, Jesse looking at Petra for advice. The redhead mouthed something, and Jesse turned back to the usher, whose laughter was dying off. "That was funny, you should laugh."

"Uh… See, w-we _had_ tickets, but we… We l-lost them on the way here." Jesse fiddled with her hands.

The usher inhaled through his teeth. "Oh, I hate when that happens." Jesse gave a sheepish nod. "Sorry, but… No tickets, no show." He cracked a smile, then turned to talk to the next person. Olivia sighed, backing away with the others. They circled up, glaring at the floor.

"We need a way to get past him." Petra glanced between the rest of them. Olivia raised an eyebrow, turning her head slightly to look at the redhead.

"Like what? The keynote's been sold out for ages." Petra made a face.

"I could probably break through." Axel lifted his arms, fists clenched. "Just need a little wind-up room." Olivia and Petra glanced at him incredulously.

"Any _other_ bright ideas?" Petra glanced at Jesse. The brunette blinked, looking at them from watching the usher. Olivia glanced at him; he was trying to shoo away a chicken, but flinched away whenever it moved. Jesse shot a glance at him again, then motioned behind them.

"A lot of chickens running around m-might be a distraction," she suggested. Petra followed her hand to the chicken machine behind them, and nodded slowly.

"That'd be the mother of all distractions." The redhead grinned. Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"But you'd have to break _that-_ " she pointed to the center pane on the bottom of the window- "pane of glass." Olivia turned back to Jesse. "How are you gonna reach it?"

"Let's look around." Petra lowered her voice. "There's gotta be something we can do." They all nodded, then hurried off in separate directions. Olivia approached the chicken machine, examining it carefully. Axel stood nearby, and she could see Jesse making her way towards a booth.

As she examined the machine, she noted something. If they were to jump up there, they wouldn't need that much momentum. They'd need some, both to get this done before they were noticed and to reach the glass at all. Olivia glanced behind her; the booth on the other side of the gate entrance would be close enough. If Jesse could simply find something to bounce off of…

That was the thing, every year. They always needed something and couldn't get it, or left it at home. She wasn't sure what it was this time, exactly, but it was sort of frustrating. They had been extra careful to grab everything they needed, and they were _still_ missing something.

Movement caught her attention, and she turned to her left. Petra was approaching her and Axel, motioning to the side. Olivia shot a glance past the man standing guard over the machine, spotting the other man bouncing on a slime block. Beside him, Jesse was talking with the woman ruining the slime booth. Catching onto what they were thinking, she and Axel followed Petra towards the booth.

"...two per customer. I'm afraid I can't make exceptions." The woman behind the counter was explaining. "No matter how… 'Important' your reason is." Jesse hesitated. Axel was quick to help.

"A round of slimeballs for everyone, please." Olivia shot a smile towards Jesse as she turned to glance at them. The woman behind the booth counter lifted an eyebrow, but shrugged and pulled the items from below it nonetheless. They approached, taking the slimeballs with a multitude of 'thank you's and turned back towards the gates.

Jesse glanced between them, then sighed. "This is only eight. W-we need one more to make a block." Olivia glanced at her, then at the two slimeballs in her hands.

"Okay," Petra whispered, passing her two to Jesse, "we need to find another way to get some more slime. Quick." Olivia passed her slime to Jesse as well, as did Axel.

"On it!" Axel took off. After nodding to Jesse, Petra did as well. Olivia hesitated, then after sharing a glance with Jesse, walked towards the other end of the aisle.

There wasn't much there, honestly. Nothing that would help them, anyways. There were simply more booths; the one to her left was a booth tent with a crafting table, which wasn't much of a booth in her opinion. All of the other booths were either too crowded or completely useless. She tried to see if one of the crowded booths was helpful at all, but all she could see was the heads of the other con-goers that were crowded around it. Olivia sighed, turning away.

What had she seen that could help them? Most of what she had seen before was just merchandise; hats, shirts, jewelry… All of it was stuff that wouldn't help any of them in the long run. Glancing back towards the chicken machine, she caught sight of Petra, who caught her eye and waved her over. Weaving her way through the crowd, Olivia quickly joined Petra near the machine.

"Find anything?" Petra glanced behind her as Axel appeared around the corner. He spotted them and made his way over as well.

"No. I did find a crafting table to make the block with, at least." Olivia shrugged. Petra gave a slight nod as Axel stopped beside them.

"There are a lot of people with slime, but they don't want to give it up," Axel reported. Olivia folded her arms thoughtfully as she tried to come up with another possible plan. Nothing immediately came to mind. Maybe if they… No, no, that wouldn't work. If they could just distract the guy in front of the machine, so they could build their way up with their spare pieces of their build…

Petra started walking, catching Olivia's attention. She turned, spotting Jesse talking with Lukas, who had a slimeball in his hand. She followed the redhead as Lukas shot a glance their way. He then turned back to Jesse.

"Whatever you guys are doing," he held out the slimeball, "count me in."

"Thanks, Lukas." Petra grinned, then shot a glance to Jesse, voice lowering to a whisper. "Told you he was useful."

"Aw, this guy isn't actually cool, is he?" Axel moved around to give the blond a once-over. Olivia glanced at Axel a second, then turned back to Lukas.

"Remains to be seen." She placed her hands on her hips. Lukas glared at them. Jesse moved around to use the crafting table under the booth canopy behind him.

"So," Lukas shook off his offence and glanced between Axel and Olivia, "have you guys been building together long? You've got good chemistry."

"Are you jealous?" Axel's tone was teasing. Lukas blinked and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I just thought you guys did well in the building competition." His voice gave away his surprise at Axel's comment. Axel rolled his eyes with an amused smile.

"You're totally jealous." Lukas rolled his own eyes with a huff. He went to say something, but was cut off by the sound of items slamming together, and an odd squelching sound. Olivia glanced at Jesse, whose hands hovered over a slime block, a look of mild disgust on her face. Olivia moved away from the others and approached the crafting table.

"One slime block," Jesse mumbled. "... Gross."

"I'll take that." Olivia pulled the slime block off of the table. She turned, silently measuring the distance between the booth and the machine window. "Right…" She paused, placing the block on the ground. "There." She quietly calculated the distance again to be sure, then stepped aside.

"It's all you, Jesse." Axel glanced at the shorter woman. She glanced at the top of the crafting booth, then looked back to him.

"Give me a boost." He nodded, locking his hands together and holding them flat. She used them as a step stool, pushing on them with her foot; he lifted and held her up as she grabbed the edge of the wool. Olivia watched as Jesse stood as straight as she could bring herself to, backing towards the far side of the booth. She shot a glance over the side, clenching her fist and forcing a deep breath, before taking a running start and leaping.

She must have hesitated ever so slightly, because instead of her feet hitting the slime, her stomach did. She still bounced up, managing to throw her arms up before she hit the glass. It shattered, like they wanted, but Olivia couldn't help but wince as Jesse fell to the ground with a thump and a muffled "ow." Chickens practically exploded out of the machine; Olivia stepped back as several of them ran past with fluttering wings.

As Jesse pushed herself up, brushing herself off carefully, the usher at the gate ran past, trying to direct people away from the mass of white birds. "Keep your eyes closed! They will peck out your eyes!" He paused, freezing up as chickens surrounded him. One even tackled him to the ground; he landed on his back with a yelp.

"Now's our chance!" Petra motioned to Jesse, and the group took off through the gate. Olivia found herself in the middle, Jesse and Petra in front of her and Lukas and Axel behind. The usher let out a shout after them, but they were too far to hear it.

* * *

 **AN: h a h we're getting into the good stuff**

 **Guest: no, nothing really happened to cause it, i don't think. it's just kinda there. another way to see her; rather than the usual confident and adventurous Jesse, we have an anxious and rather antisocial Jesse.**

 **GuestPerson13: thank you! and i'm not really sure yet; if there are any ships or hinted ships or whatever, it won't be for a while, anyways.**

 **Ariza Luca: thank! :3c**

 **until next time!**


	8. Basement

They skid to a stop just inside the Hall doors, looking around for the thief. "Where'd he go?" Olivia was pretty sure Petra was the only one that wasn't even slightly out of breath. Looking between the straggling early-birds that were talking in different spots around the room, she noted with slight disappointment that none of them seemed to be the figure they had seen running off.

Not that she got a very good look at him anyways.

"There!" Jesse's voice was barely above a whisper as she pointed to a door to the side of the main floor, which was cracked open ever so slightly. The group immediately moved over to the door as casually as possible; there were a couple others glancing their way. They got to the door, and hesitated.

"What do we do once we catch him?" They all turned to look at Lukas, who hesitated only a second to continue. "There are many ways we can play this…" He let his guarded stance melt away, straightening and lifting a hand to his chin. "But considering this isn't my fight… I'll follow your lead."

"W-we just need the skull, or the diamond. L-let's just… Ask for what's ours, and leave." Jesse glanced between each of them. Olivia shot a reassuring smile at her as their gazes met for a second, and Jesse returned it before looking to Petra. "Ready?"

"Ready." Petra nodded to Jesse, who nodded in response and pushed the door open. She stepped through it, immediately met with a set of stairs. The group followed her down, peering past her when she reached the end of the staircase and peeked around the corner hesitantly.

The basement was about as creepy as she thought it would be. Bookshelves filled to the brim with various sizes and colors of books were placed almost at random throughout the room, potion bottles sitting on top of them with no obvious sense of organization. Chests were strewn about within the bookshelves' gaps, fence posts and staircases placed at random. Somehow, the random placement worked, causing a sort of evil lair aesthetic.

"See anything?" Jesse's voice was barely above a whisper. As she looked around again, Olivia noted that there seemed to be no sign of life anywhere in the area besides them.

"He must've gone out another way." Petra moved out from behind Jesse and started down towards the bookshelves. Olivia followed her, Axel and Reuben right behind her.

"What is all this?" Olivia questioned. She immediately realized there was no point in doing so; no one else had any better clue as to what went on down there.

"Looks like it… Used to be the basement…?" Jesse edged out from behind the wall. "Weird place to have a hideout…"

"I'll bet you anything I'll find my skull in here." Petra placed her hands on her hips as she examined the shelves. Axel moved around, looking at everything in awe and excitement.

"And if we see anything else cool to steal along the way, then so be it," he turned to examine a potion up close, "right?"

"Axel, that's not what we're here to do." Petra moved around a bookcase to watch him. Jesse began wringing her hands as she examined the dimly lit room.

"Oh come on," Axel turned towards the redhead with folded arms, "he isn't here, and Jesse didn't say no. I say we steal."

"I don't want to stoop to his level." She shot a glance towards Olivia for backup, and Olivia could only shrug in response. Petra sighed.

"W-we should hurry," Jesse piped up. Olivia watched her as she moved down the steps. "Ivor could be back a-any minute."

"Alright, alright." Axel turned and wandered off past the bookshelves he stood next to. Olivia gave a glance to Jesse, who didn't catch her eye, then moved through the bookcases after him. Lukas and Reuben followed close behind.

The basement was incredibly unorganized on literally all levels. Olivia found three different books about slime in three completely different sections, two potions that looked exactly the same across the entire room from each other, and supplies in random stacks in separate chests. If it weren't for the fact that he had stolen from Petra, and they were on a time crunch, she might offer to help at least organize his potions. The entirety of the basement made her cringe.

She found an area on the far side of the basement that was more open than the rest of it; a bookshelf sat against the wall, chests and growing stations lining the walls on either side of it. A pedestal sat towards the center of the room with a purple glowing potion sitting on display. Whatever it did, it must've been important.

Olivia moved to examine the books on the bookshelves. As she scanned the titles, she noticed a common theme between them; all of them had to do with enchanting. And on top of that, almost all of them were incredibly advanced. As she read through the titles, she heard Jesse and Petra talking somewhere behind her.

Jesus, these books were boring. The only interesting quality Olivia could name was how advanced they were. Other than that, they were as uninteresting and confusing to her as the art of enchanting itself. She'd never gotten the chance to try and enchant something. In fact, she barely knew any names of different enchantments. They were the simplest ones, too; her father had tried to teach her more, but she understood them less than she understood potions. She didn't really care to, either, which is probably why she didn't get past where she was.

Olivia heard something about a potion behind her from Axel, then Jesse mumbling a response. Something clinked; Olivia glanced back to see Axel pocketing the glowing potion from the pedestal, and Jesse giving an exasperated sigh. Olivia rolled her eyes and turned back to the books. She shouldn't have been surprised that Axel would give in and steal, he had been so interested in it since they got down there. As for her, she didn't really want to be down there at all. It was dark, damp, and insanely creepy. She would rather be out in the crowds than in the basement.

"Hey, Olivia?" Blinking out of her thoughts, she turned to find Jesse standing at the bottom of the small staircase that lead up to the bookshelf. "D-did you find anything?"

Olivia shrugged. "He's no slouch when it comes to enchanting." She turned, gesturing to the books as she read the spine of another book. "This is some pretty advanced stuff." Jesse hummed quietly, staying put for a few seconds, before edging over to Reuben. Olivia shot a glance over to them, watching as Jesse gave Reuben a scratch behind the ear while mumbling something, then turned her attention back to the bookshelf as Jesse moved over to Lukas.

"Find anything?" Jesse's quiet voice echoed off the walls of the basement. Lukas didn't answer for a couple of seconds.

"Do you want a guide on how to build a creepy lair using everyday objects?" Lukas' voice got slightly louder as he presumably turned to face Jesse for a moment. Jesse hesitated to respond.

"I-I'm sure there's _something_ useful a-around." Olivia spotted Lukas giving a shrug and a nod as he turned back around. Jesse's soft footsteps got louder and quieter again as she passed behind her. Then, out of nowhere, the bookshelf rumbled and began lowering into the floor. Olivia stumbled back in surprise, then glanced to her right as Jesse approached from a lever on the wall. She shot the engineer an apologetic smile, then looked to the lowering bookcase.

A tiny almost closet-like space was behind it, barely big enough for what was in there. Inside the weird space was a statue of some sort; weirdly-textured blocks sat underneath and on each side of the center block. The center block itself was weirder than the other blocks. It was a cream color, with lights flashing in multiple colors in the center. A weird atmosphere flooded out from it, almost like it was trying to draw them in. A double chest sat just in front of it.

"What the hell is all this stuff?" Jesse approached the steps carefully, her quiet voice muffled by the faint whirring of the strange middle block. The others slowly approached the steps as well.

"Soul sand," Petra whispered. She hesitated at the foot of the steps, glancing at Jesse. "It was everywhere in the Nether."

"W-what about that block in the middle?" Jesse's hand lifted to point at the changing colors. Petra hesitated, seeming just as confused as the rest of them. Olivia stepped forwards, gently pushing past Petra to move up the stairs.

"I've never seen one of these before." A hand stretched out, slowly moving towards the strange block. "Maybe if I just… Take a closer look…" Her fingers stopped just in front of the block. An odd sort of pulsing seemed to come off of it in short waves. "Do you feel that? It's almost… Pulsing."

"I-is it some sort of machine…?" Jesse stepped forwards to get a better look. Olivia turned to face her.

"It's definitely not like any machine I've ever seen." She glanced at it again, then back at Jesse. The other eyed the block behind her warily, then glanced down.

"W-wait…" Olivia backed away to allow Jesse room. The other woman knelt down, opening the chest that no one had paid any heed to before. Peeking inside, she flinched, then leaned back a bit. "So… Good news, weird n-news…" The others approached the chest, looking down into it. "I… I found the skull, b-but…"

"What the hell?" Petra placed her hands on her hips, scowling at the chest. "Why did I risk my neck for that skull if he has two of them already?" Sure enough, inside the chest were three skulls, lined up side by side. They looked like the skulls of skeletons Olivia saw almost every night, except they were black, as if they were charred or burned. They were honestly very creepy. "He was in such a hurry to get it, too…"

"Th-this has got to be connected somehow..." Jesse glanced at the redhead. "The chest with the skulls was back here w-with everything else… It's gotta mean s-something."

"But what?" Petra lowered her hands from her hips.

"I think I see what's going on here." Lukas edged forwards slightly, pointing to the other blocks of the statue thing. "Soul sand," he motioned to the skulls, "plus three Wither skulls." His hand lowered, and he turned towards the rest of them with a grim look on his face. "That's the recipe for a Wither."

Petra's eyes widened. "A Wither? But that's…"

"One of the worst monsters there is!" Lukas cut her off. Olivia's eyes widened, and she glanced at Jesse. The other shared her worried glance. Petra looked to the chest again.

"Maybe we should just grab the skull and get out of here, while we still can." The redhead started to reach for the skull in the center. Before she could take it, though, the sound of a door opening and closing again echoed from the entrance. Petra flinched, retracting her hand.

"Uh… Guys?" Lukas' voice cracked as he started moving slowly down the steps.

"Scatter!"

* * *

 **AN: its getting good here we gooo**

 **Guest: i guess she might, we'll just have to wait and see. ;3c**

 **until next time!**


	9. Caught

Petra's whispered command spurred them all into action. They darted back towards the bookshelves to find somewhere to hide. Reuben flipped the lever to raise the bookshelf again as Olivia weaved between the shelves, climbing over a chest and ducking between it and a shelf. A blue potion sat on the shelf; she'd have to be careful not to knock it over.

"Don't you recognize me?!" A harsh voice echoed through the room as boots clacked against the stone floor. "Or wait…" A figure passed by and Olivia ducked. "Surprised to see me?! Oh, that's no good…" Olivia peered over the shelf as the figure walked away from her. He had a green robe, long greasy-looking hair swishing back and forth as he walked. "Thought you were rid of me, didn't you?! Yes…" Olivia heard the clink of a potion bottle meeting another, and saw the man turn around to look at a shelf. She noted a scraggly beard and visible bags under his eyes, even from a distance. She saw Reuben duck behind the pedestal.

Olivia shifted up, trying to see better as the man walked off again. She sat up, peering past the edge of the shelf, and moved to grab the far edge. Her hand bumped the potion bottle, and before she could catch it, it clanked to the floor.

"What was that?" the man whirled around. Olivia ducked back over the chest and hid behind the bookshelf. "Who's there?" The second question was softer than the first, and she heard rapid footsteps approaching. She held her breath, narrowing her eyes as she waited for him to leave again. Silence seemed to slow time, her wait going from seconds to years in a heartbeat. After a few long seconds, she turned, ready to peer around the bookcase and see if he had left.

Instead, she found herself face-to-face with him. She barely had time to gasp before he had a tight grip on her arm, yanking her from her hiding place.

"What are you doing here?!" Honestly, it took a lot to keep from shaking right then. Olivia glared at him. His voice quieted. "What did you see?"

"Leave her alone!" Petra's voice sounded from nearby; she must have been hiding behind a bookcase as well.

"Yeah, back off, pal!" Axel joined in. Olivia glanced over to see Jesse appearing from another bookcase, pulling her best death glare on the man. The grip on her arm shifted, and before she could react, Olivia was thrown to the floor; her cheek slammed against the stone painfully, and she let out a hiss as she moved a hand to her face.

"You two?! Did you follow me here?" The man stepped over her. Olivia pushed herself up, hand rubbing her cheek as she glared at the back of the man's head.

"You thought you could just screw us over and get away with it," Petra narrowed her eyes, scowling as she spoke, "didn't you?"

"W-we're here to prove y-you wrong!" Jesse obviously tried to at least feign confidence, but it didn't work too well. The man knew that as well.

"What are you going to do about it?" Jesse's forced confidence faded in an instant. "I have what I want, and you have exactly what you've earned." The sneer in his voice was evident; Olivia shot a worried glance at Axel, who had moved around stand behind Jesse. He held a determined look on his face. "Now get out before I put you out!"

"Hey!" Axel moved towards the man, glaring all the while. "Nobody talks to my friends like that! Now shut your mouth," he glared down at him, folding his arms, "or else."

"Enough!" The man took a step back, and Olivia glared at him as he turned enough for her to see his face. "You've wasted too much of my time already."

He turned on his heel, darting off past a bookshelf. They all ran after him, but he had vanished from sight. They hesitated on the platform leading to the stairs, looking around for the thief.

"Where'd he go?" Petra sounded exasperated.

"If you won't leave of your own volition," heads turned towards the wall, where the man had reappeared behind a T of iron, holding a pumpkin threateningly; they all gasped, flinching away from the wall, "I'll happily remove you myself!" He dropped the pumpkin on the center of the T, and jumped down to stand in front of it. The thing rumbled, shaking violently until the iron suddenly broke away. An iron golem crouched where the T had been, unfolding its arms and stretching its legs. Its eyes pried open, looking down at them with red glinting in the dim light. "Show our friends the door, will you?"

The golem immediately went to work, moving towards the group with lifted arms. Olivia turned and darted away as the golem swung at her, but it stumbled in front of her before she could get away. She ducked, clenching her fists as she felt a wave of air shoot over her. It turned, setting its gaze on Jesse as it moved to swing again. With a startled gasp, the other woman ducked, and as the golem recovered, Olivia and Petra darted past it. Reuben started squealing, but Olivia could hear Jesse and Axel's rushed footsteps close behind her, and guessed that Jesse had grabbed the pig.

Petra shoved the door open, and the group moved through the doorway. There was a crowd of people in the Hall, two people clapping excitedly on the stage. In any other situation, Olivia would be excited for the keynote starting. But now, she was more worried than ever. If the man in the basement went through with his plan, everyone in here could be in serious trouble.

The group moved towards the back of the crowd, circling around each other as they tried to catch their breath. While they did, the people on stage began speaking.

"Oh man, this is so exciting!" The woman on stage clapped.

"It sure is!" The man nodded excitedly.

"And now," the woman started waving her hands in an announcing voice, "for the first time ever, here at EnderCon… We are very proud to present..."

The man continued for her. "The one, the only…"

Then, in a loud unified cheer, they stepped aside.

"Gabriel!"

The legendary warrior was standing at the back of the stage; at his name, he turned on his heel and approached the spotlight, smiling widely. He waved to the crowd as cheers erupted, random calls sounding from different places in the crowd. Olivia turned back to her friends as Gabriel began thanking them.

"Is everyone okay?" Jesse finally managed to speak up. Reuben made a few confirming snorts, and the others glanced between each other. It occurred then and there to Olivia that someone was missing. Axel stood to her left, Jesse, Petra, and Reuben to her right. But Lukas was nowhere to be seen.

"Um, guys?" The others looked at her as she spoke up. "Where's Lukas?"

"I-I thought he was right behind me!" Jesse glanced at the stage nervously.

"Well, if he's not here, the only place he could be is…" Axel trailed off, looking towards the door with worried realization. Jesse gasped.

"He's still down there!"

"Ivor's got an iron golem and all the ingredients to build a Wither down there." Petra glanced at Olivia, then at Jesse. "If he were to unleash it on this crowd of people…" They all glanced at the crowd as they cheered at something Gabriel had said. "We have to act fast."

"It just so happens that the greatest warrior of all time is in the building." Olivia gestured to the stage. "We should ask Gabriel for help." Jesse gave her a worried glance. Her gaze softened slightly. "This is the smartest way to help Lukas."

"He's tough." Petra put her hands on her hips. "I just hope he can hold out a little bit longer." The group went silent; Jesse looked at the floor hesitantly. Olivia watched her carefully, trying to understand what she was thinking. The other woman lifted her gaze, glancing at Petra.

"I'm going after Lukas by myself." Her voice only emphasized her unconfidence. Olivia blinked, eyes widening as she glanced at Petra. Petra caught her gaze and held it a second, before looking to Jesse.

"By yourself? Are you sure, Jesse?" Jesse looked away from the redhead.

"... Yeah." It wasn't very convincing. "Th-the rest of you, go get Gabriel."

"We're on it, Jesse." Olivia gave a confident nod, placing her hands on her hips. Jesse gave a thankful smile.

"We'll figure out a way to warn Gabriel, and then we'll meet you back here," Petra added.

"Let's crash this party!" Axel folded his arms, grinning at Jesse. She smiled back.

"B-be back as soon as I can." Jesse nodded as she spoke.

"Be safe," Petra whispered. Jesse nodded, and the group split up. Reuben followed Jesse back to the basement, and Olivia led the way through the crowd. Axel was right behind her, and Petra took up the back.

They weaved through the crowd, Olivia moving aside so Axel could part a path between the people easier. He managed to get through without having to push anyone, and soon enough they were at the front of the crowd. Someone was asking a question about Ellegaard; Olivia quickly realized it was Aiden as he walked away.

"Next!" Gabriel pointed to Axel, who had lifted a hand into the air expectantly.

"Listen, there's some bad stuff going on in the basement." Axel motioned towards the door. Before he could continue, Gabriel interrupted.

"Well, sounds like trouble. We all know I'm very good at handling trouble!" The crowd cheered in response. Olivia narrowed her eyes.

"Please, we're serious!" She stepped forwards, catching his attention. "We really need your help!"

"I suppose we'll just have to take a look after the keynote." Gabriel shot them a grin, then looked out at the crowd as they cheered excitedly.

"What?! No, we can't _wait_!" Petra joined in; Gabriel's smile faltered. "They're actually in trouble down there!"

"Yeah," Axel spoke up again, "There's a seriously creepy guy down there." Olivia glanced helplessly towards the door. Jesse still wasn't back. "He's gonna do something that-" Axel hesitated, glancing at Olivia. She made a face, shrugging uncomfortably. "He's gonna do something bad. Seriously weirdly bad."

"I see. Well, we will just have to look at that soon, won't we?" He didn't believe them, that much was obvious. He forced a smile, and looked to the crowd, who cheered excitedly. Olivia bit her lip.

Something moving caught her attention. Lukas emerged from the basement, Jesse and Reuben following close behind. "Dude, I don't know how I can be any clearer!" Axel's sentence caught their attention; they turned and spotted him, then quickly made their way over. "Weird guy. Doing weird stuff! Freaky with a side of strange!" Axel lowered his hands helplessly. "Why won't you listen to me? What do you want me to do, tell you charades style?" Olivia cringed.

"I promise you," Gabriel was obviously trying not to cringe as well, "that's the _last_ thing I want you to do."

"Four words." Olivia groaned inwardly. Gabriel put a hand to his face and shook his head exasperatedly. "Six syllables. Sounds like 'shmonster in the shmasement.'"

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Next." Olivia's eyes widened.

"Wait, just-!"

" _I_ have a question for you!" A hand raised above the crowd at the back, a familiar voice ringing out above the mumbled chatter.

"Excuse me, sir, you'll have to wait your turn!" Gabriel smiled again. Olivia was tired of his smiles.

"Just tell me first." The speaker was moving through the crowd to the front. "Do you really believe that _anyone_ can be great?"

"With enough hard work, yes." Gabriel put a hand on his hip and motioned with the other.

"Is _that_ where I went wrong?!" The speaker shoved past the front line of the crowd. "I simply didn't _work_ hard enough?!" Gabriel's eyes widened.

"Ivor?"


	10. The Start

He took a step back as Ivor approached the stage. "Is that really you?" Olivia shared a surprised glance with Jesse. "How _dare_ you interrupt like this!" Jesse tried to say something, but it came out as a squeak and she went silent again.

"That's the guy who attacked us in the basement!" Lukas gestured to Ivor. Gabriel shot an apologetic glance to Axel.

"I wish I could say I was surprised." He placed his hands on his hips and glared at the bitter alchemist.

"If it's surprises you want," Ivor narrowed his eyes, "you're in for a _treat_." He started up the steps to the stage. "Why don't you tell them the _real_ story, Gabriel?!" The warrior flinched at his name, then straightened defensively.

"I see time has made you bitter." Gabriel narrowed his eyes.

"And it's made you an even bigger fool!" Olivia blinked. What on earth was he on about? "Now these people were promised _greatness_ , and _I'm_ ready to deliver!" Ivor whipped around, starting towards the back of the stage. "I'm sorry this is how they had to learn the truth!" He flipped a switch on the wall, and the soul sand and strange block rose from the stage, two of the three skulls on the arms of the T. Ivor produced the last skull. "Nothing built can last forever, Gabriel." The warrior gasped.

"Ivor, _no_!" He started towards the other man, but Ivor placed the skull in place, and an explosion blew both of them off of the stage.

The crowd erupted into terrified screams, some people immediately booking it for the doors. Ivor and Gabriel pushed themselves up as what Olivia could only assume was a Wither rose from the smoke. It was like a charred skeleton without limbs, and it had three heads while its ribs wrapped around the strange block in the center.

"Creature! Attack!" Ivor pointed at Gabriel, and the Wither let out an earsplitting screech. It show a flaming skull right towards Jesse; she quickly jumped to the side, backing away while trembling. It shot another, and Jesse managed to jump out of the way again. Olivia let out a sigh she didn't realize she had been holding.

Blocks from the floor and walls were ripped from their places, flying towards the Wither and forming a sort of protective body around its spine. Posters, plants, even tables were being pulled towards it. Olivia herself felt a slight gravitational tug towards the Wither. It let out another screech. Jesse ran up and stood next to Olivia, Reuben close behind.

"Stay calm, everyone!" Gabriel pulled his sword from its sheath, aiming to strike. "This foul beast is no match for me!"

"Creature!" Ivor pointed at Gabriel again. "Attack!" The creature swooped down, flying at Gabriel. The warrior jumped up to hit it, but was immediately knocked back to the floor upon contact with the strange block. Jesse flinched from her place beside Olivia.

"What have you done?!" Gabriel glared at Ivor. The alchemist laughed. Jesse moved forwards to help Gabriel to his feet. "No, stay away!" She flinched. "It's after me, not you!" The Wither swooped again, forcing everyone to duck. Olivia straightened again when it was safe, watching chunks of the room go flying towards the creature. It began firing skulls seemingly at random, breaking the chandelier.

"Look at him!" Ivor started to walk towards it, glaring at Gabriel all the while. "The mighty Gabriel! Looks like true greatness is out of his reach!" He turned away from them. "He may not be able to stop this creature, but I can!" Ivor raised his arms. Olivia shared an incredulous glance with Axel. "Creature, retreat!" The Wither turned towards him; she noticed then that its middle head was no longer a skull, but a rounded head with a single purple eye. Ivor cleared his throat. "I said… Creature, retreat!" Nothing happened. "Retreat I said! Retreat!"

"Uh, that's not working!" Lukas threw his arms out for emphasis. Ivor glanced at them, wide eyes filled with rising worry.

"Uh, no need to be alarmed, my friends! I have an elixir that will destroy this monster!" Ivor pulled a purple potion from his pocket, pulling his arm back and taking aim.

"Th-that potion, is that-?" Jesse was barely loud enough to be heard.

"Uh oh." Axel slumped slightly. Ivor chucked the potion in his hands at the Wither. The glass shattered, purple swirls floating up around the odd block. Nothing happened.

"Uh, what?" Ivor backed away. "Impossible! I took such care…!"

"The potion!" Olivia whirled her head around to give Axel a hard look. "Axel, you have to throw the real potion!"

"But-! Finders keepers!" Axel lifted his hands slightly, eyes wide. Olivia gave an exasperated huff.

"You thieves! You're ruining everything," Ivor snapped.

"Axel, come on!" Olivia persisted, throwing her hands out for emphasis. He gave in, pulling the potion from his pocket. Jesse took it, taking aim and lobbing the thing at the block in the center. Right before it hit, the growing protective covering stretched across it, and the potion shattered against black.

"It's protecting itself! Without the Command Block exposed, the potion is… Useless!" Ivor backed away. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this!" He hesitated only a second, before turning on his heel and darting away.

"Ivor! You coward, come back here!" Gabriel sounded furious, but before he could do anything, purple light enveloped him, and he started to float upwards. He let out a startled yell, flailing to try and get away. Thinking fast, Olivia darted forwards, getting caught in the light as she grabbed his foot and pulled.

"Jesse, help me!" Olivia glanced at the nearest person, who happened to be Jesse as she ran over and took hold of Gabriel's other foot. Olivia looked back up, finding the light was still on her upper body. It came from the Wither's single purple eye as it stared down at them. The light felt weird, like it was burning her and freezing her at the same time. Honestly, it was almost painful. She pulled along with Jesse, and struggled but succeeded to pull Gabriel out of the beam. He fell to the floor, mumbling his thanks; Olivia stumbled back, but managed to stay on her feet.

"Ivor was right about one thing," Gabriel sounded breathless, "I can't defeat that thing! Not on my own…" He glanced behind them. "Everyone's running away! Except for you." He turned, fully facing Jesse. She honestly looked purely startled by the action. "Will you help me?"

"O-of course," Jesse squeaked. Gabriel nodded, a look of determination falling over his features.

"Follow me!" Gabriel turned, running from the hall. Olivia ran after him, as did the others. Outside was just as chaotic; people were running everywhere, screaming at the top of their lungs. Within only seconds of running, the monster broke the Hall's roof and rose out of it, bigger than ever. All three of its heads were the one-eyed rounded kind, beams of light shooting from each one. Olivia followed Petra and Gabriel down the bridge steps, finding cover under one of the booths to catch her breath. Petra and Axel did the same, as did Reuben, but Gabriel continued on, and Lukas and Jesse were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they?" Axel gasped for air. Olivia could only respond with a shrug, placing one hand on Reuben's head to try and calm his trembling, and the other on her chest. They all looked around at the people as they scrambled every which way. After several seconds, she heard Jesse's voice.

"There's Jesse and Lukas!" Petra beat her to it. "Jesse!" The two looked over at them, then ran over to kneel under the booth canopy. Only a second went by before the canopy was ripped from its place by purple light. They all jumped to their feet, running out of the light's reach. Jesse yelled out to them, but Olivia didn't hear it; she looked desperately for another spot to regroup, as they all had scattered when they took off.

She turned around, spotting Jesse and Petra being pulled by the monster's light, Jesse losing her grip on the fence post she held onto for dear life. Before Olivia could move to help, the fence post snapped, and the two started floating up towards the monster. Then, Gabriel ran in, grabbing hold of Jesse's foot and holding her in place. The monster got bored, looking elsewhere and dropping the three of them. She hurried forwards, as did the others, who had also been watching the whole thing go down.

"Is everyone okay? Do we have e-everyone?" Jesse glanced between them.

"We must head for my fortress." Gabriel started back towards the entrance to EnderCon. "We'll be better protected there!" Olivia shared a glance with Lukas, before they took off after the warrior. Weaving between broken booths and rubble of dropped ground, it didn't take long for them to reach the final stretch of the city. They made a sharp turn by the beacon, which was being torn apart. Olivia couldn't help but feel a little bad.

She looked up to see the gates out of the city were beginning to close. She put on a burst of speed, despite her confusion. Why were they closing the gate? The monster could fly, for god's sake! In fact, they were putting more people in danger by closing the gate than they were helping. She made it through nonetheless, and shot a glance over her shoulder to see Jesse roll under the gate before it closed. She sighed in relief, before turning and continuing to run after Gabriel.

It was late at night, but there weren't any mobs around. They ran through the woods, avoiding skulls and flaming trees as they did. Olivia had to dodge holes in the ground a couple of times, but most things weren't horribly hard to avoid. As she ran, she spotted a split in the path ahead, thick flaming trees separating the two paths. Olivia swerved to the right, following Axel and Reuben as they continued to avoid or jump over holes in the floor.

A sudden beam passed over her, but her momentum kept her from staying in the light too long to escape it. Despite it, the light thoroughly hurt this time; whether it was because the monster had grown, or because she was tired, she couldn't say. She kept running, leaping over a burning log to escape the forest entirely.

As they ran, tentacles started swinging at them. Some shot themselves into the ground, others tried to grab for them. Olivia ducked under one and swerved around another, spotting what she thought was the temple Gabriel had mentioned. A burst of adrenaline shot through her, and she caught up to Petra as they hurried up the steps and into the building.

There was a set of stairs leading down from the entrance, and Olivia stopped to catch her breath there. Petra was beside her, hands on her knees, while Axel and Reuben caught up with them. Not a second later, Gabriel came running down, Jesse in tow.

"The inner chamber is made entirely of obsidian." He started flipping switches almost at random. "We should be untouchable in there." He hit a final lever, and the wall opened up to a room made of obsidian, a sort of portal frame sitting on a raised surface in the center. Before anyone could enter, a tentacle came snaking down the steps, and a beam of light found her again, only briefly. She couldn't bite back the shriek that crawled up her throat as she turned and ran into the chamber with the others.

"Go through the portal!" Olivia hesitated and looked back towards Gabriel, who was swinging at a tentacle. "Once you're in the Nether, you'll be safe!"

They all climbed the steps, Axel running through the portal frame. "Uh... Something's not right here!"

"It's not lit," Olivia blurted. Jesse immediately shoved a hand into her pocket, retrieving a set of flint and steel. She fumbled to hold it correctly, eventually getting it right and sending a spark through the frame. A swirling purple wall of light flickered to life.

"Everyone get in! Now!" Petra turned and motioned to them. Olivia nodded hesitantly. She made eye contact with Jesse for a second, sharing an almost relieved look with the other woman, before running into the portal's light.


	11. Purple

Olivia decided then and there that she hated using portals. The icy-hot tingling enveloped her entire body, emphasizing her fatigue for what felt like ages. Purple surrounded her on all sides, swirls growing and shrinking all around. It was dizzying, really; Olivia scrunched her eyes shut and clenched her fists, trying to drown out the loud whoosh of air that echoed in her ears. It peaked, and she struggled to stay conscious as she stumbled and fell onto her front, free of the portal's light.

The whooshing faded; Olivia rolled onto her back and pushed her hands to her face to try and rid of the lingering dizziness. After a couple of seconds, a weird "vwarp" noise sounded from nearby. Olivia pushed herself up off of the ground, eyeing the Nether portal warily as Axel stumbled through with Reuben under his arm. The burly man nearly fell, but managed to catch himself before he crushed the little pig. Reuben dropped from his place under Axel's arm, shaking out any lasting tingles from teleporting.

"Where are the others?" Olivia piped up. Axel shrugged, turning to look at the portal for a few seconds, then glancing back at her.

"They're probably coming." Olivia raised an eyebrow and looked towards the portal. Several seconds passed with no indication of others coming through.

She couldn't help but wonder what in the world could be keeping them. They were all right there, what would've stopped them? Had the Storm gotten through the obsidian after all? The thought alone caused anxiety to shoot through her chest. She forced a deep breath. No, they were fine. Maybe someone caught up and needed help getting through. Maybe they were herding other Con-goers to the obsidian room.

"Are they… Okay up there?" Olivia folded her arms nervously. Axel shared a worried glance with her.

"Hope so-"

As he spoke, the portal started to get louder, swirling faster than before. Olivia blinked, watching the portal intently, hope welling in her chest. After a couple of seconds, Lukas and Jesse tumbled out of it, landing on their backs; they landed close enough to each other to make it obvious that Jesse had been knocked into him. Said girl was pushing a hand to her torso, shifting herself into a sitting position to stare at the portal. Lukas rubbed his head and pushed to his feet, backing away from the purple light. Jesse shifted to her feet, still gripping the front of her tan dungarees, and tore her eyes from the portal to where Reuben stood nudging her leg.

"Where's Petra?" Axel approached the pair, eyeing Lukas suspiciously. The blond flinched, gripping the bottom of his jacket.

"We did everything we could." Lukas forced himself to look up at Axel, then away from him again. That sure didn't sound good; Olivia glanced at Jesse, who was tense and still breathing funny from her teleportation.

Axel glanced at him. "What are you saying?"

"Jesse, what is he talking about?" Jesse snapped out of her thoughts and looked to Olivia with wide eyes. "Because it doesn't sound…" Olivia trailed off and looked at Lukas suspiciously. The blond flinched away from her. "It doesn't sound good."

"I-it was chaos up there, th-there wasn't much I c-could do…" Her grip on her front tightened a moment, then slacked as she dropped her hand to her side. Lukas nodded almost frantically. The group fell into a tense silence for several seconds, before the Ocelot leader let out a long suffering sigh.

"I got scared." His voice was quiet, dripping with guilt. "Just for a second." Lukas flinched away from Axel's glare. Axel started towards him, and the blond backed away, hands raised defensively.

"You got scared?" Lukas' head started shaking back and forth ever so slightly.

"I-it wasn't my fault-!"

"You got scared, and it's not your fault?" Axel's fists clenched tightly. Lukas swallowed.

Olivia couldn't say she wasn't upset, but she didn't entirely blame Lukas. He had frozen up; not everyone got boosts of adrenaline like she or Petra; Jesse, in fact, always froze up in the face of danger. So Lukas doing the same wasn't entirely foreign.

"Back off, Axel." She turned to face the burly man as he glanced towards her. At first, he looked about ready to hit something; slam his fist into something nearby, like a wall, or Lukas' face. Then, the anger melted away enough to accommodate determination and worry.

"We've gotta go back." The griefer turned away from Lukas, who couldn't hide his relief. Olivia quickly stepped between the portal and Axel.

"No!" Her arms lifted in an almost desperate attempt to hold him off. Axel's anger rose again, slightly. "We just have to wait." He glared at her, but made no move to push her aside. "Think about what you're walking into."

"Petra's still up there, she could need our help!" He tried to simply walk forwards, to see if she'd give in and step aside. Olivia refused to let him try.

"That monster is still out there, Axel; you'll be killed!" Olivia threw her arms out for emphasis.

"Th-there's nothing you can do." Jesse edged forwards a step. Axel turned on her.

"You don't know that! You don't know!" Jesse flinched and shrunk back. Axel opened his mouth to continue, but closed it again as Lukas suddenly darted forwards.

"Wait- there she is!" He pointed to the portal, causing Olivia to step aside. Sure enough, the portal was making odd noises again, and the lights were swirling more rapidly. Olivia clenched her fist in anticipation.

Out of the portal stumbled Ivor, who fell flat on his face after two steps. Not a second later, a tentacle from the Wither Storm found its way through, and began swinging around wildly.

Getting hit in the ribs by a hard black thing was not fun, Olivia could promise anyone that. The wind was immediately knocked out of her, and she swore she felt something crack as the hard surface met her torso, sending her flying back into the wall of netherrack. She heard screams from the others, and whooshing from the tentacle, before a loud cracking noise echoed through the area. Everything went quiet.

As Olivia pushed herself up, trying to ignore the ache in her ribs, she heard an angry mutter from Axel. She turned towards where the portal had been, finding obsidian pieces scattered around its broken bottom half. Ivor was pushing himself off of the ground, Jesse and Lukas standing on the other side of him. Jesse looked uncomfortable, torn between being hostile or upset. Lukas looked both furious and terrified, glaring at the robed man. It didn't take long for Reuben to stand by Jesse's feet, and Olivia followed Axel around to stand behind the other two.

"I-Ivor-!" Jesse's voice shook.

"You ruined everything." Ivor brushed off his front, glaring Jesse in the eye; the woman shrunk back ever so slightly. "Don't pretend you don't know, thief! You took my most valuable potion!" Jesse hesitated, then narrowed her eyes. Ivor snorted. "Nothing to say for yourself?" Jesse's hostile glare immediately faded and she visibly forced herself not to flinch. "There's nothing left up there!" Ivor continued, beginning to pace in front of them. "Nothing but that Wither Storm!"

"Why are we wasting time talking to this jerk," Axel hissed. Ivor glared and turned away. "Petra could be in trouble, we need to go find her!" Ivor's eyes widened and he turned back towards them.

"The girl! I saw her," he said loudly.

"What?" Lukas straightened.

"Yes, while I was running towards the portal, I passed her. She was running in the opposite direction!" Olivia blinked, eyes widening. "Such bravery! Of course, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity!" Olivia narrowed her eyes. "And your friend has crossed it!" Jesse narrowed her eyes. "I'm saying she's stupid!"

"Shut it! She's not stupid," Axel snapped.

"She's trying to help! Which is more than you're doing in this situation so far," Olivia retorted. Ivor scowled and turned away.

"Through that tunnel is a network of minecarts built by the Order. It's your only way out." Ivor glanced at them as he spoke. He motioned towards a pathway leading to a tunnel with a lava flow at the other end. Olivia swore she saw some glass farther than that, but it was hard to tell.

"What about you?" The response was immediate and unexpected; Ivor looked at Jesse with surprise flashing through his gaze, before he covered it with a scowl.

"What about me?"

"H-how will you get out of here?" Jesse was persistent.

"I have my ways." Ivor turned away again.

"We should head that way." Axel moved out from behind Lukas, pointing the direction Ivor had. Before any of them could respond, however, an odd, squeaky cry echoed from somewhere. Olivia tensed- then forced herself to relax again as the ache in her torso returned- and glanced around.

"What was that?" Lukas' voice shook. Olivia glanced at Ivor.

"I'd wish you luck, but luck won't carry you through the Nether." Ivor pulled a potion from his pocket, holding it tightly. "You have my sympathies." In a single movement, he ripped the cork from the bottle and downed the contents of it. He tossed it behind him, and by the time it had landed, Ivor had vanished.

"Um…" Jesse's voice quivered; Olivia turned to look at her, finding the other staring at something with wide eyes. "Guys…?" Olivia followed her gaze. A large, aggravated ghast was floating through a gap in a wall of nether block. Olivia backed away from it, careful not to back into the pool of lava nearby. The others had the same idea.

"Run!" Lukas' shout spurred them all into action. Olivia whirled around, booking it down the path that Ivor had pointed out. The others did the same; she saw Axel and Jesse in front of her, Reuben at Jesse's side and Lukas at the back. Saying she wasn't terrified would be a lie; the ghast was right on their heels, looking and sounding angrier than ever.

Jesse skid to a stop in front of her; Olivia forced herself to do the same before she ran into the other woman. In front of them was a slope downwards, the glass she had seen earlier being a symbol for the Order above their heads on the nearby wall. Below it was a track, with seven minecarts lined up on it, ready for use. Olivia glanced at the others, who were looking between each other as well.

"This must be what Ivor was talking about!" Olivia looked back towards the track. Before they could jump down, the ghast made a noise behind them. Olivia turned just in time to see the mob spit out a fireball at the space between her and Jesse. Which, at the moment, wasn't very big. She jumped to the side, Jesse doing the same. The fireball flew past and hit the top of the tunnel, breaking the decorative glass.

They all jumped down, running to the minecarts. Olivia climbed into the third minecart from the back, Lukas just behind her and Axel in the back. There was an empty cart in front of her, with Jesse in front of that one and Reuben claiming the second cart from the front, just in front of Jesse. The carts began rolling down the track; once they were in the tunnel, the ghast couldn't follow them, watching them go irritatedly.

* * *

 **AN: m a n we're getting close to the good stuff guys**

 **get hyped**

 **until next time!**


	12. Heat

The tunnel didn't last long before it opened up into what felt like a giant cavern. Pillars of netherrack spewed up from the floor of lava far below them. The track had no sides; if anyone leaned over too far, they would fall into the boiling lava below. It was unnerving. Their carts rocketed down the track at a speed that seemed to help prevent tilting, but still.

" _God_ , that was close." Olivia breathed, pushing a hand to her chest for a moment.

"No kidding." Lukas sounded winded. Jesse shot a glance back at them, but promptly turned again as her hair started hitting her in the face.

"Yeah, I don't like this," Olivia mumbled. "This is way too dangerous for my tastes."

"Your tastes are boring!" Olivia glared back at Axel. "You never think the dangerous stuff is fun."

"Because it's not! You could get hurt!" Olivia retorted. Axel made a face. Silence didn't last more than a moment.

"Wow," Lukas breathed behind her. "The Nether."

"Yeah, that is a lot of lava," Olivia turned to look over the other side of the cart. "And fire. And other things that could burn you to death." Jesse shot a nervous glance over the side of her cart, then faced forwards again.

Reuben suddenly squealed and ducked into his minecart. "Oh no-!" Jesse grabbed the edge of hers. Olivia looked past her to see what had caused the reaction.

The track dropped several blocks ahead, and they were getting rapidly closer.

"Oh, that's a drop!" Lukas' cart rattled. "That is very, _very_ much a drop!"

"What are you talking about, new guy? What dro- oh _crap!_ You weren't kidding!" Axel's cart rattled as well. Olivia covered her face with her hands. Sure enough, she felt her stomach lift as the carts picked up speed rolling down the track. Luckily, the drop only lasted a couple of seconds, before the carts shook and flattened out again.

"Oh no-!" Jesse's terrified whisper caused Olivia to peek out from between her fingers, only to hear a shout from Lukas practically in her ear.

"Duck!" She barely had time to grab the sides of her cart before she swooped down, hiding her head in her lap. The whoosh of wall went right over her, nearly hitting her back. She sat up as Jesse did, and almost immediately ducked down again.

"Watch it!" She yelped. Jesse's cart rattled as the other woman ducked down again. There was another whoosh of wall, and she deemed it safe to sit up again, hopefully for good. She peeked up, then sat straight. Jesse sat up, glancing back at them, then back towards the track ahead.

"Okay, so-" Olivia's eyes widened as she saw a curtain of lava ahead of them, rapidly growing closer- "I'm not the only one who seeing that we're running out of track, right?"

"No!" Lukas' response was immediate.

"Good!" Olivia glanced around for something to stop the carts, to grab onto as they passed, _something_. She quickly spotted a switch right beside the track, obviously connected somehow. Maybe it would stop the lava?

"Jesse, that switch!" Olivia pointed to it, and Jesse followed her motion. "Now! Do it!"

"Oh, arms, don't fail me now…!" Jesse was barely heard over the rattling of the track; she pushed up just enough to hold her arm out. She tensed her fingers, then swung her hand, managing to hit the lever at the last second. Olivia sighed in relief as Jesse re-braced herself in the cart, only for the carts to lurch to a stop only a second later.

"Oh, f-!" Olivia felt a hand suddenly hit her back, pushing her forwards a little. She glanced back to Lukas, who had one arm out against her and the other gripping the edge of his cart. He shot an apologetic smile her way. "Sorry." Olivia shrugged, turning around again.

The carts suddenly lurched down all at once, the sound of slamming pistons resonating beneath them. Then, it happened again not a second later. It continued, lowering their train of minecarts down. Olivia could see more track below them.

"W-wow, I uh…" Jesse risked a glance back at them. "I thought something bad w-was gonna happen there, but…" She shrugged. Olivia started to return it, but the carts started forwards again. Jesse turned back around just in time to suddenly turn sharply to the left after Reuben. The empty cart followed her, but Olivia's cart turned sharply right instead of right. "Whoa-!"

"Jesse!" Olivia glanced back to see Lukas and Axel following her, while Jesse and Reuben went the other way.

"No!" Axel's cart rattled.

"Whoa!" Lukas' yell was just behind her to start, then faded as Olivia's cart suddenly turned, neither of the other two's carts following.

"Wait!" She turned to see them thrown around tiny curves in the track, letting out other startled shouts as they did. Olivia's cart was thrown around a curve again.

"Oh man!" Axel sounded like he would be sick. She felt bad for Lukas. Jesse called out something, but it was too muffled to make out; Olivia turned back to the other track, realizing Jesse and Reuben, as well as the empty carts, were nowhere to be seen. She didn't get to think about it, though, as her cart suddenly went racing down another drop. She couldn't even throw her hands over her eyes before it reached the bottom of the drop, rocketing forwards.

Glancing around, she realized that she couldn't see any of the others now. Panic began to set in as she was thrown around another turn, this time to her left. Almost immediately, she was thrown around a complete one-hundred-eighty degree turn to the right. The track made less and less sense to her as she was forced down it.

As she was allowed a short stretch of straight track, her mind began to go wild. What was going on? Why was the track so crazy? Would she ever meet up with the others? Would her cart even stay on the track much longer? Her questions continued to berate her as she was thrown around another curve. This one nearly knocked her into the lava below, but she managed to think fast enough to lean and keep on the track. Then, she found herself shooting rapidly up a ramp.

Some high-pitched noise rang out from nearby. It sounded almost like a squeaky piston. Olivia glanced around for the noise as the cart leveled out again, but it stopped before she could find it. Then, as she was watching the track behind her, something rammed into the front of it. Her head whipped around to find another cart was attached to hers; or, rather, hers was attached to it. Axel was seated in the cart, knuckles white as he gripped the sides of it while glancing around at her.

"Oh, hey!" He turned back around briefly. "There's someone I recognize!"

"Thank god-!" She barely responded when something slammed into the other side of her cart; she turned to find Lukas' cart now reconnected to hers, while the blond himself was wide-eyed and white-knuckled like they both were. "Okay, three of us are alive."

"Did either of you see Jesse?" Lukas loosened his grip slightly as they started up another ramp. Olivia glanced at Axel as he shook his head.

"No," Olivia called over the rattling of the carts. They leveled out, then shot around a left turn, followed immediately by a right, and found themselves in another long tunnel.

"Hopefully her track converges with ours soon; we're bound to meet up at some point." Lukas shrugged nervously. They all watched the direction they were headed, and not a moment later, something crashed into the back of Lukas' cart. They swiveled around.

Jesse was wedged in her cart, holding tightly to Reuben as she glanced between each of them, very slowly relaxing. Olivia gave a small sigh of relief.

"Is… Is everyone okay?" Jesse called over the rattling. No one answered at first.

"Well, I'm not dead." Axel turned back around. "I guess that's pretty good."

"Ditto." Olivia turned as well. "Ditto with the not dead."

"I just can't believe Petra comes down here all the time." Lukas sounded terrified. "This place is awful." Jesse didn't say anything, but Reuben let out a snort that was barely heard over the carts. "Heh, your throat's gonna be sore later, Axel."

"What are you talking about?" Axel glanced back at the blond briefly.

"What, wasn't that you screaming earlier? Sounded like you were really shredding your larynx." Olivia blinked. Was _that_ what that noise was?

"Oh, yeah." Olivia glanced back to Lukas. "I think I heard that too. Really high-pitched, kind of like a squeaky piston?" Lukas nodded, grinning.

"What? No, shut up." Axel gripped the sides of his cart. Lukas choked back a snicker.

"Huh. Guess it must have been something else." He was forcing down laughter as he spoke. Olivia grinned, rolling her eyes. Jesse still hadn't spoken, so Olivia glanced back at her. She simply watched the wall ahead of them, eyes unfocused as she held onto Reuben.

"Mortified silence?" Axel spoke up, not turning around. Jesse snapped back into focus and glanced at him. "You and me both, pal." No one responded to this.

The carts rocketed out of the tunnel and into another cavern; it was very similar to the first, with stalagmites rising from the bubbling lava below and stalactites stretching down towards them. As Olivia glanced nervously over the left side of her cart at the lava below, she spotted two more lines of track. Glancing to her right, there were another six or so. She followed them, spotting their likely destination.

A hub of sorts, with tracks coming out of almost every nook and cranny on its rounded surface, was rapidly approaching. Peering past Axel, she could see their current track leading into a hole in the side. The hub's sides rounded off into a point at the bottom, while the top was flat. Spires and partial arches sat scattered around the edge of the top. The entire thing was made of what looked to be brick, but it was a good deal darker than regular brick. Small lava flows ran down the sides into the massive pool below them. Axel put his hands in the air, briefly, then barely managed to pull them down again before their carts shot through the hole.

It was only a matter of seconds for the carts to lurch to a stop, with a wall on one side and a small platform on the other. Olivia swallowed, pulling herself out of her cart and onto the platform as slight nausea became evident.

"Is…" Jesse hauled herself out of her cart, Reuben waiting for her on the platform. "Is it possible to throw up like…" She put a hand to her stomach. " _Inside_ your body?"

"Uh-huh." Olivia turned and followed Axel up the stairs. "I know because I just did. About five times." Reuben passed her, reaching the top of the stairs in a few hops. He let out a snort, moving away from the steps towards the center of the floor. Olivia reached the top, and allowed her eyes to widen.

The top of the hub was just as impressive as the hub itself. The spires and arches stretched above them, the floor patterned to match the aesthetic of the whole thing. There was a pattern of fires between each pillar, and different kinds of fences all over the place. Across from the stairway was a single Nether portal.

"Wow… _Look_ at this place…" Jesse breathed, looking around in glanced around at the tracks below.

"All these tracks converge at this point," she mused, turning to look at Jesse. "You could probably get anywhere in the world from here." Jesse nodded slowly, turning to her left.

"There's the portal." She motioned to it, a look of relief crossing her features. Lukas approached it cautiously.

"This must be what Gabriel was talking about." He shot a look towards Jesse. She nodded, though she seemed to get more wary the longer she watched the portal. Olivia blinked. What Gabriel was talking about?

"Hold on." Olivia lifted her hands. "Time out. What was Gabriel talking about?" Jesse and Lukas both looked at her, then shared a glance.

"Gabriel… Gabriel told me t-to find the rest of the Order." Jesse started digging around in her pocket. "He said to find their temple… And then use this." She pulled her hand from her pocket, pulling an amulet with it. Not just any amulet, though, but the Order's actual amulet. The one on the posters and signs.

"Yeah." Lukas placed one hand on his hip and lifted the other slightly. "Ivor said to use that track, probably to get here. And since this looks like the main meeting point of all the other tracks…"

"That's our way out." Axel finished the blond's statement and started towards the portal as Olivia placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"It must lead back to the surface." She shared a look with Lukas.

"The surface is also where that creature is," he pointed out. Axel, who had been preparing himself to jump through, hesitated, then straightened again, eyeing the portal warily.

"He's right." Jesse pulled her arms in to hug her torso. "W-we have no idea what we're walking into. It could be dangerous." Axel turned around, glancing between them, then scratched his head and turned to examine the portal again. Lukas watched him for a moment.

"Thanks for being so brave, Axel," Lukas said softly. Olivia shot him a look, then looked back at Axel.

"Alright, I'm gonna go." He straightened. "I'm going. I'm going right now." He motioned with his hands to add emphasis to the last couple of words, then glanced over his shoulder at Jesse. He turned back around. "Like right, right now." Jesse lifted a hand, opening her mouth to speak, then shut it again and returned her hand to her other arm. "I just need to make sure-" Axel pat his pockets thoughtfully- "I have everything I'll need."

"You can do it, Axel." Jesse squeaked out. Axel turned, giving her a lopsided grin.

"That's right, I _can_ do it!" He turned to face the portal once again, then glanced briefly over his shoulder at Jesse again.

"I'll be right behind you. Whatever's on the other side, has no idea w-what it's got coming." Jesse let her hands drop.

"Alright, here I go. Thanks Jesse." She nodded. Axel turned back to the portal, taking a deep breath.

"Be safe up there, Axel." Olivia dropped her hands, allowing a look of concern to flash across her features. Axel nodded once, then walked firmly through the swirling purple light. Jesse hesitated a moment, then slowly approached the portal, following Axel through. As she was teleported back to the surface, there was a brief, quiet noise that sounded almost like a yelp. It faded before she could determine if she had actually heard it or not. Sharing a glance with Lukas, she sighed, and moved forwards, passing through the portal with quite a bit of hesitation.

* * *

 **AN: sorry about how late the chapter is today, i had a lot to do. on the plus side, they're finally out of the mayhem for a bit!**

 **until next time!**


	13. Cleaning Dirt

The same tingling the last portal had given her enveloped her again, and she tensed her muscles against it. She clenched her eyes shut to try and block the spirals. This time, the sensation of teleporting seemed to last only half of what it had before, and soon enough, she was stumbling out into the night air. She nearly fell, but managed to keep upright as she moved down a couple of steps into a small water flow. Axel and Jesse were just in front of her, moving up a different set of stairs. She waded through the water after them, noting the whoosh that sounded behind her as Lukas appeared from the portal.

"Where are we?" Olivia glanced around. They appeared to be surrounded by hills, some much larger than others. A few mobs were roaming about in the distance, but none of them noticed their little group.

"In the dark, i-in the middle of nowhere…" Jesse looked around nervously.

"Maybe we should bed down for the night." Lukas approached them from behind. Olivia turned around and looked at him a moment. "It's dangerous to be out when it's this dark."

"I thought we were headed for a temple." Axel glanced between Lukas and Jesse. Olivia walked up and stood next to him.

"We're looking for a giant building. It should be pretty obvious." She placed her hands on her hips.

Lukas made a face. "Ivor said-"

"Oh, 'Ivor said.' Well, then maybe this is the temple." Axel looked at Lukas, who glared. "I'm being sarcastic," he whispered, turning to look at Olivia. She sent him a hard look.

"Axel, come on," she said flatly. He quirked half of his brow.

"Lukas is right." Olivia and Axel both looked at Jesse, who was wringing her hands nervously while glancing at a zombie that was a good distance away. "I-it's not safe out here." She glanced at Olivia. "W-we should build a shelter."

"I say we build a treehouse." Olivia offered. Axel gave her a funny look.

"That'll take forever, and we'll be exposed while we do it." He glanced up the hill, then back at her. "We just need a quick and dirty hut."

"Look, whatever it is," Lukas cut in, "we gotta do it fast." Axel folded his arms, furrowing his brow as he looked at Lukas. Olivia watched the blond a moment, then shared a glance with Axel, before returning it to the blond. "What?"

"In a hut, we won't know what's coming until it's knocking on our door." Olivia looked back at Axel, folding her arms.

"A treehouse is gonna be spider town. I _hate_ spiders." Axel countered. They both looked to Jesse, who looked unfocused again. Her focus snapped back when they looked at her, and she glanced between them, before nervously shrugging. Olivia made a face. Axel suddenly turned and hurried off past Jesse, who blinked and watched him as he moved over to one of the nearby dirt walls and starting to dig. Olivia knit her brows in confusion and slight annoyance, and he hesitated, looking back at them. "What? She didn't say no." Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Let's get to it, then." Jesse motioned towards where Axel stood. Olivia nodded reluctantly, then made her way over to the dirt wall her friend stood next to.

They all started digging. With four of them working, it wouldn't take long to have more than enough. Lukas was next to her at the moment, but he quickly handed his dirt to Jesse while he took to getting wood from a nearby tree, presumably for a door. Olivia would rather have that job than digging; she could stand redstone on her hands, since she worked with it so often that it just grew to be a feeling she was used to. Just about anything else, especially dirt, bothered her to no end when it was on her hands.

They all broke away from the dirt wall- which was more of a mound now- and found an area nearby that was big enough to make a small dirt hut. Building it took almost no time at all; Lukas was placing the door over the opening only a few minutes after they had started. They backed away, looking over the shabby hut.

"All that work," Olivia sighed in slight dismay, "and we're still eye-level with monsters that want to kill us."

"It's done, it's over. We aren't talking about it anymore." Axel sounded just as tired as she felt.

"We could've done like a multilevel thing, but…" Lukas trailed off as Olivia shot him a glance. "I-it's fine. It's cool." He started forwards, pushing the door open and stepping inside. Olivia followed him, Axel, Reuben, and Jesse close behind.

"We've still got stone, right?" Axel pulled a block of the weird nether material out of his pocket- when he had grabbed it, she had no idea. "This stuff was, like, always on fire, so it'd make a good fire pit."

"Yeah, I've got some." Olivia dug through her pocket, pulling the stone from it. "Just enough, too."

Lukas quickly dug out a little hole in the center of the hut for them; Olivia nodded in thanks, before placing the stone around the edge of it. Axel stuffed the Nether block in the center, and Jesse retrieved her flint and steel, lighting it quickly. While they worked on the fire, Olivia pushed her remaining two redstone torches into the walls, one on either side.

"Alright. I'm gonna go wash my hands before this dirt drives me crazy." Olivia held her hands stiffly in front of her. "C'mon Jesse. You need to clean your nose so that cut you got doesn't get infected." Jesse blinked, then nodded and followed her out of the hut. They weren't far from the portal, and therefore not far from the water.

Olivia shoved her hands into the frigid water, shivering briefly, before starting to wash off the dirt. Jesse knelt down beside her, cupping water into her hands and using it to rub at her face. After a few seconds, Olivia pulled her hands out, standing and moving towards the portal to look them over in the light it provided. She hook them to dry them off, nodding in satisfaction. Shooting a glance towards Jesse, she noted that the other was simply sitting there, hands in the water as her unfocused gaze watched the liquid flow around them.

"Jesse...?" Olivia stepped forwards, brows knitting together in concern. Jesse didn't respond. "Jesse?"

"Huh?" The other's head snapped up, blinking a few times as she looked at Olivia. "Did you say something?"

Olivia hesitated. "Are you okay?" Jesse blinked.

"W-what do you mean?" She pulled her hands out of the water, shaking them to rid of excess water, before rubbing them against her dungarees. Olivia noted the cleaned scratch.

"You keep zoning out. It's not like you." Olivia folded her arms in concern. "Are you okay?"

Jesse watched her a moment, then looked away. "Yeah."

"Really?" Olivia moved to stand next to her. Jesse didn't answer, sniffling after a moment. She slowly pulled her arms to her middle, then pushed a hand across her face. "... Didn't think so," Olivia said softly. "C'mon, let's get out of the dark at least. We can sit on the roof or something." Jesse nodded, allowing her to lead her back to the hut. Olivia motioned to the side of it, where a few misplaced dirt blocks made something similar to a staircase, and the other clambered up onto the roof. "Just a second, okay?"

"Okay…" Jesse's voice wavered.

Olivia moved back to the door, pushing it open and leaning in. Lukas and Axel were on opposite sides of the hut, ignoring each other, while Reuben was settled next to the fire. "Jesse and I are gonna be on the roof for a bit. We'll be in soon." Axel shrugged, confirming he'd heard. Lukas nodded once, slight concern written on his features as he glanced briefly at Axel. "And for the love of god, _please_ get along while we're up there." She was mostly talking towards Axel. The burly man waved a hand almost dismissively.

"Okay, okay." He sat down next to Reuben.

Olivia leaned back out and shut the door behind her. She was quickly up the makeshift steps and settling herself next to Jesse, who was hugging her knees. "Okay. What's on your mind?" She leaned against her legs. Jesse watched the edge of the roof in silence for several seconds, then sniffed again.

"I'm just…" Her voice trembled, sounding choked. "I'm just scared. This morning w-we were all ready to go, t-to build a-and maybe even _win_... And n-now we're in the middle of nowhere, hiding from something th-that Gabriel couldn't even fight…" She huffed, pushing at her face with a hand. Olivia placed a hand on her back. "A-and I couldn't even help him, either…"

"Help him?" Olivia struggled to keep her voice soft, despite the concern and confusion that was biting at her. She started rubbing circles between Jesse's shoulder blades.

"H-he got caught in a tractor beam. W-when Petra and I w-went to help, Petra g-got caught, too… I pulled Petra out, b-but…" Jesse dropped her head onto her knees. Olivia scoot closer and draped her arm over the other's shoulders.

"It's okay. You tried, didn't you?" Jesse shot her a watery glance. "You did what you could."

"Y-yeah… B-but I c-couldn't help them both, I-I didn't have time…" She sat up a bit, going unfocused again. "I g-got Petra because she w-was closer… If I had been faster…"

"Jesse, you're working yourself up." Olivia squeezed her shoulder. "You did what you could. I don't think anyone could have done it better." Jesse sniffed, glancing at her.

"I c-could've done _more_." Jesse wiped at her face again. Olivia hummed.

"Maybe, but there's still a lot you _can_ do." Olivia smiled lightly. "We're still going to get the Order. Once we do that, they should be able to take that thing down." The other glanced at her. "Everything's gonna be okay. No one else is gonna get hurt."

Jesse sniffed once again. "Yeah… Maybe…"

They sat in silence for several long moments. Jesse would sniff or wipe at her face every once in a while, but it was mostly just sitting there, neither really happy to be up there but not ready to go back inside either. Eventually, a nearby spider noise snapped them back to the reality of where exactly they were, and Olivia pulled her arm off of Jesse's shoulders.

"You ready to go back in?" She looked at the other. Jesse nodded. "Alright. C'mon." Olivia stood up, and pulled Jesse to her feet, before hopping down to the ground below. Jesse was quick to follow suit. Then, with Jesse wiping her hand across her eyes a final time, they pushed the for open and Olivia lead the way inside.

"Hey again." Axel waved lazily from where he was sitting. He hadn't moved, and neither had Lukas. "You okay?" He looked at Jesse, who nodded, then settled herself beside Reuben. The pig shifted and lay his head on her lap. Olivia glanced at Lukas, who held a questioning look. She just shook her head and settled next to Jesse. No one said anything for several seconds, though Olivia noticed Axel patting at his pockets. "Oh man."

"What?" Olivia tilted her head as Axel stood up, turning away from them.

"I'm gonna tell you something, but you guys have to promise not to freak out." This, of course, only caused worry to spark in Olivia's chest.

"What is it?" Jesse shifted slightly.

"I…" Axel turned to face them. "Have cookies." Olivia blinked, then rolled her eyes, smile tugging at her lips. "One for me… One for Olivia…" He walked over, and Olivia took hold of the offered treat. "One for Jesse…" Jesse took the cookie he offered. "And- wait, can Reuben eat cookies?"

"No." Jesse shook her head. Axel made a face, then glanced at Lukas. After a minute of watching the blond, he sighed, and tossed the cookie over to him.

"Here." Lukas caught it, only barely, and sent a grateful smile his way.

"Thanks." Axel didn't respond, simply folding his arms. Olivia nibbled at her cookie, glancing at Axel briefly, then at Lukas, who were both doing the same.

"If you had to," Lukas looked up at her, "which would you rather fight?" Jesse sat up a bit. "A hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie-sized chickens?"

"Choose wisely," Jesse squeaked. Lukas glanced between them, then chuckled lightly.

"That's a good one. Let me think…" He leaned back against the wall.

"How can you guys be joking at a time like this?" Axel shot a glare towards Olivia, who made a face. "Petra is still out there. All by herself."

"Petra wouldn't mind…" Jesse offered. Axel looked down at her, then sighed.

"I don't know, it… It feels wrong." He wandered off to the corner of the hut.

Lukas watched him a moment, then pushed to his feet. "Fine. Then, uh, we should get some rest. We need to start looking for that temple as early as we can." He stepped forwards, looking towards Olivia. "Now, my guess, is if we start at the portal, and kinda split up-"

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Axel turned around, sending a hard glare towards the blond.

"Did I do something to you?" Lukas placed his hands on his hips. "I'd really like to know. 'Cause you keep getting g on my case for what seems like no reason."

"More like what you didn't do, don't you think?" Olivia shot him a warning glare, but he ignored it. "You're the only one wearing that stupid jacket. Don't tell us what to do." Axel folded his arms. Lukas glanced down at his shirt, then glared at Axel. Olivia bit her tongue.

"Take. That. _Back_ ," Lukas hissed. Olivia shot another warning glare at Axel, but he ignored it once again.

"Can't. Wouldn't." Axel turned away. Lukas inhaled sharply through his nose.

"You know what? I get to wear this jacket because I know how to build." His tone turned threatening. "But that doesn't mean I don't know how to break things."

"Your threats don't scare me, now that we know how you really are." Axel turned back around, folding his arms.

"Jesse, your friend is way out of line!" Lukas motioned to Axel while turning towards Jesse. Jesse's eyes widened, and her gaze turned conflicted. "I wasn't gonna bring it up, but I can only take so much." Jesse stood up and tried to say something, but nothing came out.

Olivia pushed to her feet. "Pretty lame, Axel." He glanced at her, then went back to glaring at Lukas.

"Haven't you done enough damage for one day?" Okay, this was getting out of hand. Axel moved towards the blond, shoving him back a couple steps. "Petra could be _dead_ because of you."

"Axel, _stop_. You're taking this too far," Olivia said firmly.

"I don't have to take this." Lukas and Axel glared at each other for a few seconds, before Lukas turned towards the door. "Listen. Why don't I just leave, and let you guys hash this out?" Olivia's eyes widened.

"You can't leave! It's dangerous out there!" Lukas glanced at her.

"I can take care of myself," he said softly. His tone hardened as he glared at Axel once again. "It's what Axel wants, right?"

"Let him leave if he wants to leave." Axel folded his arms.

"No, no no no." Jesse managed to speak up this time. "You aren't going out there."

"But Jesse-" Axel started. Jesse glanced at him.

"We're a team now. A-and teams stick together." She looked back at Lukas. "You're staying." Lukas started to say something, then decided against it. Slowly, they all settled on the floor again; Axel stayed standing, glaring at the fire with arms still folded.

"... Zombie-sized chickens." Olivia glanced at Lukas. "That's what I would fight."

"Why's that?"

"'Cause I'm starving." Lukas' voice suddenly sounded pained. Olivia lifted her eyebrows, then shared a worried glance with Jesse.

Silence lapsed over the group as they watched the fire. Olivia flexed her fingers. As soon as she did, a soreness that hadn't been there before rolled through her hand, and she clenched it. The ache only grew. That was odd… Maybe it was just due to all the collecting they had done that day; she had gotten sore from that before.

"Which one would you fight?" Olivia blinked, looking up to Lukas. "Between the chicken-sized zombies and zombie-sized chickens." This was always where someone would pause and think the question over. But since she had been asking it all day, she already had her answer.

"Zombie-sized chickens." Olivia stretched her legs out in front of her. "Like Jesse said this morning. They aren't gonna attack you. They're still just chickens." Jesse smiled. Lukas nodded slowly.

"What about zombie chickens or chicken zombies?" Olivia turned to look at Axel, who was wedged in the corner nearby.

"Aren't those the same thing?" Lukas tilted his head slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"... Are they?" Axel folded his arms. "I thought zombie chickens were… Zombie chickens, and chicken zombies were like regular zombies with feathers."

"I guess that could be it, too." Olivia shrugged. "I'd go with zombie chickens on that one. They're smaller." She turned, looking towards Jesse. "What about you?"

"Uh…" Jesse watched the fire thoughtfully. "Yeah. Zombie chickens." Lukas nodded in agreement.

"You guys are lame." Axel grinned. "I'd fight the chicken zombies." Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"They don't exist." Axel stifled a laugh. "So I wouldn't have to fight them." Olivia rolled her eyes, looking back at the fire with a smile tugging at her lips.

"Sure."

They sat in silence again. Olivia was starting to feel the fatigue from the day; running like crazy and dealing with a dangerous minecart track would make anyone tired. She wasn't sure how they had managed to get away. They had just gotten lucky, she supposed; so many others had gotten caught by that monstrosity, and they were out here, sitting by a fire, physically unharmed by it.

Honestly, Olivia almost wished that had been someone else, someone better- more capable than they felt they were. They were nobodies. A little odd trio, a leader of another group, and a pig with a black eye. One of them was scared of everything, another was rash, a third was a loner. She was bad at almost everything. What had they gotten into?

"Are we gonna be okay…?" Jesse was so quiet that Olivia almost didn't hear her. "We got away from th-that thing this time, but… What if we can't the next time?" Olivia glanced at Axel, who had fallen asleep against the wall behind her, then at Lukas, who was the same by the door. Reuben had also dozed off in Jesse's lap. They were the only ones awake.

"We can do it again. For all we know, we won't see the thing again until it's destroyed." Olivia bit back a yawn. "We're gonna find the rest of the Order, and we'll get them to help us. They _are_ the Order; fighting that thing is probably like…" She trailed off thoughtfully. "Like just another deed."

Jesse nodded slowly. "Yeah…" She struggled to bite down a yawn of her own. Olivia watched her for several seconds, then sighed.

"We should get some sleep." She shifted around to lay down, holding herself up with her arm. "You are gonna sleep, right?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Jesse shot a small smile her way. Olivia wasn't entirely convinced, but she decided not to say anything. She flopped over, careful to not get too close to the fire."Night, Jesse."

It didn't take her long to fall asleep. As she dozed off, she was pretty sure she saw Jesse shifting Reuben off of her lap and heard a muffled "g'night."


	14. Arrows

Olivia's sleeping habits were hard to change. She was always awake right at Burning, no matter how late it had been when she fell asleep. That was the same case here. She was the first one awake, and she honestly wished she wasn't.

Her little spark of hope that everything had been a dream was stomped out as she stared at the dirt ceiling. Her shoulders hurt, probably from sleeping on a dirt floor. Her fingers, which had been slightly sore before, felt stiff; they hurt worse than when she had fallen asleep, and it had spread to her wrist. That was her left hand, though. Her right hand felt similar to what it's counterpart had felt like the previous night, though she was pretty sure it hurt more.

All in all, this was a shitty situation. And she was stuck in it.

Olivia pushed herself up. The fire was still burning, but hadn't spread. Jesse was asleep beside it, curled in on herself and using her arm as a pillow. Reuben was sprawled out against her torso. Lukas had fallen over at some point in the night, and was lying on his side with his back against the wall. Olivia shifted around to spot Axel, who was still wedged in the corner. The engineer sighed, turning to watch the fire.

She should probably put that out, now that she thought about it. They had no use for it anymore. The only issue was that she didn't have anything to carry water in. She pat her pockets a moment, thoughtfully, them paused.

She still had Petra's bag.

Hopefully she wouldn't mind it getting a little wet… Considering the water stains on the leather, she doubted it. Olivia pushed to her feet, stepping around Jesse and quietly easing the door open. The chilly morning air wafted in, and Olivia suppressed a shiver. She glanced back at the fire, noting it's slight fluctuation, and stepped outside.

She stumbled back, nearly stepping on Jesse, as an arrow shot out and stuck itself in the wall.

Olivia stared at the arrow for a solid minute, then let out a long sigh. Of _course_ there were monsters that were safe from the sunlight. There were trees everywhere. It was just her luck too; this always happened. She would try and go out before anyone else, to do something or go somewhere since the mobs had burned off. And Axel never believed her when she came hauling herself up the ladder again, sometimes with a couple of scratches or covered in dirt, because there were mobs still out and she couldn't defend herself.

She weighed her options. She could wait until someone woke up and could help her out without risking an arrow to the head. She could make a run for it. She could wake someone up. Or she could try stomping the fire out. Her safest bet was to wake someone up; probably Jesse, since she always had some kind of weapon on her. And if she moved, she'd probably be in the fire.

Olivia peered cautiously outside. Sure enough, there was a skeleton under a nearby tree. It spotted her immediately, and started forwards. The second it left the shade, however, the skeleton caught fire. Olivia peered at it for a moment as it flickered red, too preoccupied to try and attack again. It rattled aggressively, turning in circles as if that would help. Then, with a final rattling hiss, it tumbled over and disintegrated into smoke. A single bone was left in its place.

Now that the coast was clear, Olivia could safely walk back across the clearing to the small water flow. She flipped the bag inside-out, then carefully dipped it into the water. The bag picked up water easily, but it didn't want to hold it for too long. She lifted the bag up, noting the liquid coming from the bottom, then stood. She put her hand on the bottom to stem the water leaking out, and hurried back to the hut.

She softly pushed the door closed with a foot, then turned to the fire; Jesse was still about as close as she could get without becoming part of it. Which meant she needed to move her. She sighed, then knelt down and moved her left hand to shake the other's shoulder.

She may have been imagining it, but the second she touched the other, a jolt of pain shot through her entire arm. She jumped, rapidly pulling her hand away and grabbing her wrist with her other hand, dropping the bag as a result. The water spilled out across the floor; most of it ran over the nether block and put out the fire, but some ran into Jesse's face.

Jesse shot up, spluttering and wiping rapidly at her face. The sudden movement startled Reuben awake, causing the piglet to squeal. The squeal woke both Lukas and Axel up; the blond jumped to his feet, looking around wildly with wide eyes, while Axel flinched, grunting in surprise and sitting up straight.

For a solid minute, no one said anything, the others slowly regaining their bearings as they took to understanding what had happened. Olivia slowly released her wrist and lowered her hands into her lap. Jesse finally stopped trying to wipe her face, and turned to look at her.

"What happened just n-now?" Olivia shot her a sheepish smile.

"I was trying to put the fire out and, uh… I dropped it." She motioned to the bag beside her, then rubbed the back of her neck. Jesse blinked at her, then sighed.

"I thought w-we were being attacked or something…" She stretched her arms out in front of her, stifling a yawn. "That's a relief…"

"Well…" Their gazes lifted to Lukas, who was rubbing the back of his head. "We needed to be up now anyways. Good a time as any to get started." Axel shifted to his feet behind her.

"Yeah, you're right," Olivia mumbled through a stifled yawn. She pushed to her feet, careful not to touch anything for fear of the pain coming back, and scooping up Petra's bag. Jesse pushed herself up as well, running a hand through her hair and moving towards the door. She opened it, paused, then glanced back at Olivia.

"W-why are there arrows in th-the door?" Lukas leaned forwards to see. Olivia shrugged.

"A skeleton was under one of the trees," she said simply. Jesse blinked, then shrugged, and left the little hut. Axel was the first to follow, then Reuben, with Olivia close behind the piglet and Lukas bringing up the rear. As the door shut behind them, they looked around for a moment.

"Where do we start?" Axel glanced down at Jesse. The other woman glanced around briefly. Considering it was light out, it would be much easier to find where they needed to go.

"There." Jesse motioned to her left; Olivia followed the motion. A good few meters away was a stone brick pathway, leading around a corner. She raised an eyebrow, looking back at Jesse. They all shared a glance, briefly, before Olivia turned and stepped past Lukas, making her way towards the path. The others followed behind her.

As she turned the corner, she lifted a hand to block the sunlight from her eyes. Ahead of her was a stretch of path, not leading to anything obvious. A couple of trees were scattered around them, some higher up than others. As she walked, movement to her right startled her, and she spotted Axel, walking quickly with a somewhat agitated look on his face. Olivia glanced behind her, spotting Jesse mumbling something to Lukas, who scratched the back of his head. Jesse turned, moving towards them, while Lukas moved off to the side somewhere.

"It doesn't seem to go anywhere." Olivia placed her hands on her hips. "Now what?"

"Maybe we're just n-not looking in the right place yet?" Jesse offered, shrugging awkwardly. "We haven't been-"

"Hey!" Olivia looked up to her right, where Lukas was standing at the top of one of the little hills. He was peering at something to her left. "There's something over that way!" He gestured with a hand. Olivia followed it, but couldn't see anything.

"What is it?" She looked at Lukas again.

"Some kind of… Building, I think." He looked down at them. Olivia blinked, sharing a glance with Jesse.

"L-let's get a closer look." She motioned to a dirt wall, vines running up the surface of it. Reuben hopped down from the block he was standing on and followed close behind her. Olivia followed behind the piglet, glancing back as Lukas hopped down from his perch.

As Jesse reached the wall of vines, she grabbed onto them, fingers curling around the gnarled strands as she hoisted herself up. She hooked her foot into a little hold and continued climbing. Lukas passed Olivia and followed suit beside the other woman. Axel pulled Reuben under his arm, and started up the vines on Jesse's other side. Olivia grabbed the vines, and her fingers ached worse as they curled, as if complaining. She ignored them, starting up the wall. Her shoulders ached with the effort as well, and she simply quickened her pace.

As she pulled herself up onto the platform of dirt, she saw it. A giant stone building, gold and glass embellishments with gaping holes throughout the top. It was obvious it was old; pretty much everything still standing was practically crumbling as they stood there. Giant cracks ran up the sides, and based on the lack of path to it, it had sunk far into the ground. It looked ancient, to say the least. And it very well could be; the Order of the Stone had apparently disbanded before she was even thought of, and by now it wasn't surprising the massive structure they had used was as beat up as it seemed.

"Let's…" She glanced at Jesse as the other spoke up. "L-let's be careful." She motioned forwards, and the group started moving to the ledge. Axel jumped down first, Reuben still under his arm, and was followed closely by Lukas. Olivia tensed and followed suit.

It was a decent drop down; enough to make her think at the last second that she shouldn't have jumped. She landed, hard, and nearly fell over. Someone grabbed ahold of her arm, holding her steady for the few seconds it took to regain her bearings. She glanced to her left, where Lukas was standing right beside her with a hand around her upper arm. She gave a nod of thanks, straightening up. He let go. Jesse was right behind her, landing and stumbling forwards a few steps. Her arms stuck out to catch her, but she never fell. After she stood straight again, they started slowly towards the building, gaping at it in amazement.

"What _is_ this place?" Axel's mouth hung open as he eyed the glass decoration at the top of the doorway. Olivia lifted an eyebrow.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." As she spoke, they paused in place. Jesse started digging through her pockets.

"It's the temple of the Order of the Stone." Olivia glanced at Lukas incredulously.

"Lukas, are you sure?" He glanced at her, shrugging awkwardly. Jesse pulled the amulet from her pocket, holding it up in front of her for a second as her gaze flickered from it to the glass.

"H-he's right, look." She motioned to the amulet with her other hand, then to the glass. Olivia glanced between them as well. Sure enough, they looked almost exactly the same. Her eyes widened.

"Holy _crap_ ," Axel breathed excitement seeping into his words. She glanced from him to Jesse.

"Do you think they're in there?" Jesse shrugged. Axel grinned.

"Let's go in and find out."


	15. Traps

The inside of the temple wasn't exactly welcoming. Dimly lit passageways, barely lit by fading torches that were who knows how old, stretched far in front of them. It felt like the second they stepped inside, everything darkened; almost like there was some barrier keeping the daylight out. Noises echoed into inaudibility all around them; Olivia couldn't tell what was water or what was a monster, assuming there were even mobs in there.

"Let's all b-be careful." Jesse glanced around nervously as Olivia glanced up at the back of her head. "I-if you see anything, call it out. W-we don't have a-a lot of time." Her voice trembled; Olivia honestly couldn't blame her.

"Okay." She sent a smile Jesse couldn't see her way.

"Isn't it weird that dispensers are carved to look like spooky little faces?" Olivia turned and looked at Axel, who was eyeing some dispensers in the walls. "What do you dispense, little guy?"

"... I get the feeling we don't really wanna find out." Axel glanced at her, smiling sheepishly. Jesse suddenly lurched to a stop ahead of them, causing them to stop as well. A weird, rattling hiss of sorts echoed down the hall. Jesse glanced back at them.

"G-get behind me." Olivia nodded once, and Jesse began edging forwards, towards a good section of hall that was lit up by redstone lamps. They had almost reached the lit stretch, when a rumbling noise echoed through the area continuously. They all froze, Olivia glancing around at the walls.

Suddenly, with an alarmed squeal, Reuben darted forwards. And, against her better judgement, they all took off after him. They hadn't made it far, though, before a mechanical click sounded behind them, and then a rickety slam. Olivia turned; just behind them, a gate had closed from above, locking them in. Ahead of them, frantic clicking sounded from the walls.

"Uh oh…" Axel grimaced. "That's probably not a good thing." The clicking got faster, and Olivia tensed. "Aw, come on, dispenser faces! I thought we were friends!"

"Run!" They all took off at Jesse's call, as did the dispensers. Arrows shot from their left, and Olivia barely dodged them as she went. There was a space up ahead with no arrows, and that was the only thing that kept Olivia from hesitating.

Her chest was burning with both adrenaline and fatigue; she stumbled into the safe zone and put her hands on her knees, panting as if she had been running for hours. It caused her to cough, and she ended up in a spluttering coughing fit for a couple of seconds. Then, as she straightened, Jesse and Axel skid to a stop in front of her. Lukas was already there, shooting a worried glance at Jesse as she took a couple of seconds to catch her breath.

"Oh, god-" Jesse straightened, pointing past them. Olivia turned, eyes widening as she examined the hall behind her.

More arrows were rocketing from dispensers into the other wall. Olivia knew for a fact that they were lucky to have gotten through the last stretch of this, there was absolutely no way they could do it again.

"We're trapped!" Jesse's voice rose an octave. Olivia glanced back towards the gate.

"We activated the dispensers with that pressure plate." Lukas spoke up, putting a hand on his hip. "If we can just find a way to trigger it again, I bet that'll shut 'em off." Jesse blinked, then glanced to her left.

"Th-there's a crafting table, maybe we can m-make something useful." She approached it carefully. Olivia muffled another cough and put her hands on her hips.

"With what? We don't have anything. We left all of our tools and building materials at home." Jesse glanced at her.

"Uh… Empty your pockets, everyone. L-let's see what we have to work with." Olivia shrugged and began digging through her pockets.

"I have some sticks left over from building the shelter last night." Lukas held a bundle of sticks in his hand. Olivia retrieved her items quickly after.

"I have some flint, and… A piece of string." She bit back a sigh.

"All I have are these feathers from when that chicken machine exploded." Axel shrugged. Their attention turned to Jesse.

"I-I have… Other than tools, I have s-some string from when I was fighting th-those spiders earlier." She shrugged uncomfortably.

"That's gotta be enough to make something, right?" Olivia passed her items to Jesse, as did the others. Jesse took the items from each of them, then turned to the crafting table.

No one spoke as Jesse started crafting. They stood in silence, save for the arrows and dispensers, and glanced nervously between each other. Olivia cleared her throat to try and subdue the tickle that was lasting in her throat from her previous coughing fit. She glanced at the arrows ahead of them, then at the gate behind them.

A whoosh of air and a slam snapped her attention back to Jesse, who stepped away from the crafting table with a bow gripped in one hand and an arrow in the other. Jesse took a deep breath in, then turned towards the gate.

"Here goes nothing…" Jesse quickly notched the arrow, hesitating a second to draw back. Olivia clenched her fists and lifted them in anticipation. With a loud snap and a yelp from Jesse, the arrow rocketed across the hall, hitting the pressure plate. Immediately, the clicking of dispensers slowed to a stop, and the gate rumbled up again. Jesse let out a nervous laugh, rubbing her left forearm sheepishly.

"All right!" Lukas' voice was barely above a whisper. Jesse turned around, starting towards the end of the hall. They all started following after her.

"The Order of the Pig's luck is changing!" Axel announced. Olivia struggled to muffle a snort.

At the end of the hall was a short, dimly lit stairwell. Cobwebs coated the ceiling, dust clouding around them as they climbed the steps. Olivia covered her mouth with a fist and struggled to subdue more coughing, waving her hand to try and fan away the dust. She could hear the others doing the same. Reuben sneezed.

They reached the top of the stairs quickly. Olivia stepped into the room at the top, peering around nervously. The room was covered wall to wall in bookshelves, terrifyingly similar to the basement Ivor had used as a hideout. The only thing missing this time was the potions; well, and the unorganized manner. All of the books seemed to be at least relatively similar to the books around it. Olivia moved further into the room, the others fanning out to look around. A few empty bottles were scattered on the shelves, but none of them had any purpose other than existing.

"This… This must be their enchantment room." Lukas was looking around in awe. Axel grunted something of an agreement.

"Doesn't it look like Ivor's creepy basement?" Olivia nodded slowly at Axel's comment. She weaved between two bookshelves, continuing to look around at all of the books.

As she paused to scan a bookshelf in one of the corners, a thought struck her. How did this look so similar to Ivor's basement in the first place? There was no way it could be coincidental, not with how close every little detail she could remember was to this. He had obviously had some kind of grudge against Gabriel, and supposedly against the rest of the Order. Had he copied their layout?

Her train of thought was interrupted by muffled reading from nearby. She turned, spotting Jesse reading from a book that was resting on an enchantment table. What a non-enchanting book was doing there, she couldn't be sure.

"... the Order of the Stone emerged triumphant, saving the land and ensuring that peace and prosperity would reign forever." The lines were mumbled, as if not intended to be heard.

"Well," Jesse jumped and whirled around to look at Lukas, who was approaching her from behind. "Not exactly 'forever'." Jesse hesitated, then looked back to the book.

"These five members… Five friends." Olivia's eyes widened. Five? But there were only four members of the Order, weren't there? "Together, would give so much to gain their rightful place as five heroes." Who was the fifth member then? Pieces of everything that had happened struggled to fit together in her mind. "They would author their own end. They would slay a dragon."

Realization hit her like a minecart on powered rails. Ivor's basement looking exactly like this, his grudge against the Order, what he kept telling them about the Order and calling them liars… It all made sense now. She couldn't bite back the startled call she let out before it forced itself past through her throat.

"Ivor was a member of the Order of the Stone!"


	16. Hands

The others stared at Olivia, wide-eyed, as realization flickered through their gazes. Jesse slowly turned and stared at the book, though it was obvious she wasn't reading it. Axel furrowed his brow, looking at the floor for several long seconds. Lukas simply stared at the book as well.

"The stories never mentioned him…" Her voice was quieter this time; Olivia picked her way towards them, standing on the bottom step of the small platform that Jesse was on.

"This is so…" Lukas looked up at Jesse, then at Olivia, brows furrowed. "Crazy." Jesse looked towards Olivia, opening her mouth to speak. Nothing came out, and she closed it again, looking back at the book.

"They lied to us." Olivia wasn't sure whether she sounded upset or angry. "They lied to the whole world." Nope, definitely upset.

"Why would they do this?" Neither Axel's tone, nor his expression gave away how he felt. Jesse just glanced helplessly at him.

"This is so… Crazy." Lukas repeated, though he sounded a little more aggressive this time. Jesse finally stood straight, wrapping her arms around herself.

"The…" Jesse's voice shook. "The Order m-might not be what w-we thought they were, b-but…" She took a deep breath. "But Petra is still o-out there. Th-that monster is still out th-there." Lukas glanced up from the book, gaze softening as he looked towards her.

"Jesse's right." He straightened, placing his hands on his hips. "We need to focus on what we came here to do." Olivia shrugged, moving past them to the other corner. An opening leading to a spiraling quartz staircase was at the edge of the platform. She couldn't see the top.

"Where do these stairs go?" She leaned into the stairwell, trying to see to the top, but to no avail. Jesse walked up to the edge of the platform, peering at the stairwell and lowering her hands to her sides.

"Uh…" Jesse paused, then looked back at Olivia with a shrug. "Only one way to find out, I-I guess…" Olivia stepped back, allowing Jesse to go past. The other woman gave a small nod of thanks, then started up the steps. Reuben was quick to hop up after her, and Olivia followed behind the piglet.

It wasn't a long staircase. In fact, for how fancy it seemed, it was rather short. They reached a platform in a matter of minutes, where it branched in two different directions. Looking up, though, proved that it didn't matter which way they went. Jesse turned to the right, making her way to the top.

They found themselves in a room with a dome ceiling. It hung high above them, the outer edge crumbled away with the wall and allowing a view of the outside world to the South. On the wall across from the hole was a gigantic map of the world; Olivia never realized there were so many rivers where they lived. On either side of the map, the wall was decorated with stained glass, and she was pretty sure there were redstone lamps behind each panel. Banners representing each of the Order members lined the walls. Behind them was a sort of pedestal, with a banner sporting the Order's amulet on it. Behind that was a sort of table; a redstone lamp was resting on the front of it, with five evenly-spaced levers along the other side. Then, finally, there was a row of chairs about halfway between the table and the hole in the wall.

"Now _this_ is cool." Axel started moving towards the hole in the wall. They all fanned out, spreading a short distance from the stairs. Jesse breathed something inaudible as she moved around a hole in the floor. Olivia moved around the pedestal to examine it up close. "What happened to the walls?"

"More like… What happened to this whole place?" Jesse glanced over at Axel. Olivia shrugged, turning to fully face her.

"This must have been where they met." Jesse glanced at her, then shrugged in response.

"Where are they, then?" Axel turned towards them. They all hesitated, unsure of how to answer. He had a point; the rest of the Order was nowhere in sight.

Jesse put her hand to her chin in thought. "Gabriel said once w-we found th-the temple, the amulet would lead us t-to the others." Axel moved forwards, stopping beside Jesse.

"What are you waiting for? Pull it out, then." Jesse glanced at him, then began digging through her pocket. She retrieved the amulet holding it up above her head. Lukas walked up, standing beside Olivia as he watched the amulet in anticipation. They stood still for several seconds, their excitement slowly dissolving into confusion and disappointment as nothing happened.

"Is… Is something supposed to happen, or…?" Olivia slumped a little in disappointment. Axel made a face as Jesse lowered the amulet.

"Well, that was a let down." Axel turned and walked off towards the map. Jesse sighed.

"There's probably something we missed. L-look around and see if you can find anything." Olivia nodded at Jesse, then turned and wandered towards the pedestal again.

The pedestal wasn't anything special. It was made of stone, on top of quartz with steps along the sides. There were banners with the amulet on the front and back. Fence posts rose up in an arch, with a single post in the center. It almost looked like it was supposed to hold something. It was covered in dust and dirt, cobwebs creating a layer over the entire surface. She thought she saw some sort of writing on the side she was on, so she knelt down and reached forwards to dust off the carvings.

Then, she saw it.

Small purple spots were littering her fingertips.

It took everything in her to not scream. Her left hand had spots almost to her hand, and she flipped it over to see more on the palm of her hand. Her hands started trembling; she looked at her right hand, noting that there weren't nearly as many spots. Trembling turned to shaking and she stuffed her hands under her arms, trying to look as unsuspicious as she possibly could.

Jesse was talking to Axel at the moment, and Lukas was reading the book from downstairs. Reuben was sniffing at some pile of rubble, giving a hard huff every once in a while to clear his nose of the dust coating everything. No one had noticed.

The panic began to set in. What in the world was wrong with her hands? She unfolded her arms and examined her fingers again. The purple spots were still there; her tiny shred of hope that she had been imagining it was dashed in an instant. She tentatively move to poke the spot on her palm, tensing as she did. The contact didn't do what she had expected; she had anticipated the one spot to hurt, but instead, her entire hand ached worse. She pulled away, examining the spot again. It looked almost like a bruise, except she swore she could see faint lines running underneath each spot.

"H-hey, Olivia."

She jumped, shoving her hands back under her arms as quickly as she could, head snapping up to the source of the voice. Jesse was standing between the pedestal and the hole above the stairs, a hand lifted in surprise. She stood crookedly, as if she had taken a step back. She was silent for a few seconds, before she relaxed slightly.

"A-are you okay?" Olivia blinked a couple of times, then sighed, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Yeah, sorry. Just… Thinking." She looked at the pedestal again. Jesse took a couple of seconds to respond.

"About what?" Jesse crouched down to look at the dusty banner on the side of the pedestal. Olivia shifted her hands a little to hide them further.

"Just like… It's crazy. We're just townies, and here we are, in the Order's temple. Trying to do things we never _imagined_." She sighed again; she could see Jesse giving her a glance from her peripheral vision. "Who woulda thought, y'know?"

"Yeah…" Jesse smiled sadly, leaning on her knees. "I-I just hope we all make it out okay."

"We'll be fine. I'm sure of it." Olivia was lying through her teeth, and she hated doing so, but she couldn't tell her. She didn't even know what was wrong with her hands, and if she couldn't explain it, there was no point in dragging anyone down into her panic.

"I hope your right." Jesse smiled, looking at Olivia for a moment, then pushed herself up. "Do you know what… W-what are we supposed to do?"

"I mean…" Olivia looked at the pedestal. "This seems important. Maybe you have to put the amulet on it?"

Jesse was quiet for a moment, then straightened slightly. "O-oh, yeah, I see what you're getting at." She moved around to the front, eyeing the fence for a moment. Then, after digging through her pocket a moment, she placed the amulet on the top; it almost seemed to snap into place between the fence post and the pedestal base. Jesse blinked at it a moment, then shrugged. "N-now what?"

"Uh…" Olivia glanced around for a moment. She quickly set her gaze on the table on the other side of the stairs. "What about that lamp? It's lined up with the amulet." Jesse followed her gaze, eyes widening slightly in realization, before she made her way over there. When she flipped a lever, something clicked on behind Olivia. The engineer turned, immediately noticing the lit up glass panes on the wall. Jesse clicked another lever, and another light flickered to life, while two of the lights that were on went dark again. Each time she clicked a lever, some lights went on and others turned off. Eventually, though, with a click, all of the lights turned on.

Immediately, a beam of light shot from the lamp, directly hitting the gem in the center of the amulet. Instead of passing through the gem like Olivia anticipated, the light split, and two lights, one red and one green, shot out of the gems of the same color. The beams hit the map, moving along it before settling on two spots on opposite sides of the map. The green light settled in the middle of the Western Desert, while the red light pointed at the northern end of an island in the Eastern Sea.

"That's…" Olivia stood up, stepping forwards a couple of steps. "It's absolutely incredible!" Jesse moved back around the stairs to look as well, stopping beside her. "How did they build this…?" She glanced at Jesse, who shrugged, then at Lukas, who did the same. "Okay, now I'm impressed." She had to deliberately stop herself from placing her hands on her hips.

"It… Looks like some sort of tracking system." Jesse took a step forwards, peering at the red light. Then, after a moment, she stepped back again. "I-it's the Order." Olivia looked at her, as did the others. "It's showing where th-they are right now!"

"Look," Lukas stepped forwards, turning to face Jesse, "we don't know enough about how this thing works. Maybe the amulet only tracks them when they're on the surface. Or maybe it doesn't work when they're in the Nether." He placed his hands on his hips. "We have to go off of what we _do_ know."

"I mean…" Axel put a hand on his hip. "How else would we do it?" Olivia and Jesse shrugged simultaneously. They all glanced at Jesse a moment, who touched her lip thoughtfully.

"P-Petra's relying on us." She took a deep breath, stepping forwards slightly. "Th-that… That Wither Storm is still out there. A-and we _know_ Gabriel w-was trying to tell us _something_ …" She hesitated, touching her lip again as she eyed the map warily. "W-we need to find the Order of the Stone."

"But there are only two lights." Axel stepped forwards slightly. "There are only two members of the Order left?"

Jesse moved forwards, standing in the middle of the map's view. "He said Soren w-was missing…"

"So that leaves," Lukas stepped forwards, glancing back at the green piece of the amulet, "Magnus."

"Or Ellegaard." Olivia moved to stand next to Jesse.

She glanced at her, then at the others briefly, then back at the map. "L-let's head out…"

"I'm not going with you guys." Olivia blinked and looked back at Lukas. He was rubbing one arm as he shot a sideways glance down at Reuben. "I have to stay here." Jesse turned to look at him. "If I know Petra, she's probably doing everything she can to find this place. She's still out there." He hesitated, looking down slightly. "She has to be. So I'm gonna stay here and see if I can't get this place fortified by nightfall."

Jesse cradled her arms. "Just… Stay safe, okay?"

Lukas nodded, then continued. "This temple's pretty big… If we want a chance at fortifying it, I'm gonna need some help." He rubbed the back of his head. "If… If one of you could stay back with me…?"

"Sounds like Olivia'll have you covered while me and Jesse go get Magnus." Axel moved forwards, standing beside Jesse and turning to face her. Olivia lifted an eyebrow, folding her arms and shifting her weight to one leg.

"'Finding Magnus.' You really think that's how it's gonna go?" Axel glanced at her, and she dropped her arms. "What we need is Ellegaard. She's the world's greatest engineer; she'll know how to stop that thing."

"No, we need to blow the thing up. And no one knows explosions like Magnus." Axel folded his arms, then moved to stand under the green light. Olivia moved up after him and stood underneath the red. They both turned to Jesse, whose gaze flicked nervously between them. "You know I'm right. Who wants to go to Redstone-ville anyways?"

" _I_ do." Olivia folded her arms and shot a glare towards the other. "And because _Redstonia_ sounds much better than Boom Town." She made a face. "Boom Town sounds like a place where everyone's trying to blow each other up. It's crazy."

"That's exactly what it is." Axel furrowed his brow defensively. "And it's called 'awesome'." Olivia rolled her eyes.

All through their argument, Jesse had gone unfocused, trying to choose between them. A pang of guilt shot through Olivia's chest. They both knew how much Jesse hated choosing between them, yet here they were, forcing her to do just that.

Luckily, though, Jesse was on top of things this time.

"Olivia, you and I are g-going to find Ellegaard." Olivia nodded once. Jesse turned to Axel. "Axel, c-can you stay here and help Lukas? Th-this place needs to be ready for wh-when Petra gets here."

"With this guy?" Axel jerked his head at Lukas, trying- and failing- to act subtle. Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"I'm right here…?" Lukas forced a tiny wave.

"A-Axel, please?" Jesse shot him a look, and most of his defiance melted away.

"Fine," he sighed. "But I'm only doing this for Petra."

"I'll take it." Jesse smiled lightly, then motioned to Olivia. She smiled, following the other towards the stairs. As Jesse moved to start down the steps, the light filtering in suddenly darkened, brightness flickering for a moment. Olivia blinked, looking towards the gaping hole in the wall.

"Uh, guys?" Lukas' voice wavered; she saw what he was looking at.

The Wither Storm was in the distance, tentacles lashing and heads looking every which way. It was coming right towards them.

"Please hurry."


	17. Run-In

Olivia followed Jesse down the steps to the enchantment room again. They moved around the side of the enchantment room this time; they were close to the exit when something caught Olivia's eye.

A potion bottle, with a thick pink liquid in it still. She reached out and took it, trying to examine it without opening the bottle. Jesse hesitated a few steps ahead. Reuben gave a couple of curious snorts.

"What's that?" Olivia glanced at her for a second, then looked back at the potion.

"It's a… A Potion of Healing, I think…?" She turned the bottle, watching some of the liquid stick to the bottle while the rest moved slowly around. "Yeah. Potion of Healing." It was old; it wouldn't do much more than keep someone alive for a while if it was really needed. She stood still for a moment, before she placed it back on the shelf, and turned back to Jesse.

They made their way down into the trap hallway. There weren't pressure plates to keep track of on this side, so the trio walked through without a hitch. It was still early morning, and as soon as they stepped outside, light shone down on them, and Olivia used a hand to block it from her eyes. Jesse did the same, glancing around for a way back up. She motioned to a small dip in the cliff in front of them, and the three of them hurried over to it, clambering up the hill to the stone pathway.

They followed it to the portal, and passing through was even less of a deal than it had been before. She still didn't like it, but at least they were getting used to it.

The hub was the same as it had been before, and the trio glanced around for several seconds.

"How are w-we supposed to find th-the right track?" Jesse and Olivia shared a glance.

"There has to be a sign or something around somewhere…" The engineer folded her arms, glancing around another time. Jesse shrugged uncomfortably.

"The… W-we were facing North when we went i-into the portal, right? M-maybe we j-just need to find a track h-headed East." Jesse glanced at her as Reuben gave a thoughtful snort. Olivia considered it for a moment.

"Does the Nether even have the polar directions?" She glanced at Jesse, who seemed to consider that. "Eh, doesn't hurt to try it." She turned to the right, looking for a staircase. Jesse motioned to the one they had come out of the day before, and they quickly descended the stairs. The track they had used had a sign no one had noticed before; it simply read "Gabriel's Temple." That was a good sign, at least; there _were_ labeled tracks. There was also a second descending staircase she hadn't noticed. Jesse shared a glance with her, before the trio moved down to the next level.

There was another station with three minecarts, and a sign with red letters. It read "Redstonia" with little decorative lines on either side. That was what they were looking for. Olivia grinned excitedly, and they clambered into the carts. Reuben was in the front once again, with Jesse in the middle and Olivia in the back cart. There was a button beside Jesse, presumably to power the tracks. She pushed it tentatively, and the carts rocketed off. Jesse retracted her arm with a startled yelp.

They ran down the track, their previous route above them for a few moments, before their track turned a sharp corner to avoid the wall, and continued through the cavern. Olivia leaned carefully to one side to watch the tracks beneath them.

"It's absolutely incredible!" Olivia leaned back as Jesse shifted around to look at her. "All the wiring it must've taken to make this… Automated tracks connecting all of the Order through the Nether..." She trailed off, glancing at Jesse. "Just imagine all of the scaffolding you'd need for all of this! Ellegaard must've been fighting off zombie pigmen with one hand, wiring redstone with the other…"

"Y-yeah, it's pretty cool." Jesse grinned, then glanced at the track. "It must've t-taken forever." She paused. "B-but, uh… We need to be careful. I-if we don't get the Order back together, th-the Wither Storm i-is gonna eat _everything_." She suppressed a shiver. "W-we need to find Ellegaard, get her help, a-and then save the world."

"Yeah, I hope we can do it." Olivia started to nod, then hesitated as something caught her eye. A white thing was up ahead, getting closer as they rode the tracks. For a second, she wasn't sure what it was. Then, it hit her hard.

"Uh," the ghast was peering at them angrily, "Jesse?" The other woman glanced at her, then towards the ghast. "Look out!"

She had been a second too late; the ghast let out a screeching cry, spitting a fireball right at the track. It slammed into the bottom of the front of Reuben's cart, causing it to buck up and fling them all screaming to a small patch of ground below. Olivia tumbled, arms scraping the floor as she rolled to a stop. Jesse groaned slightly ahead of her, starting to push herself up. Olivia did the same, noting the scrapes on her forearms. They didn't have time to think about it, though; the ghast was turning towards them, making small noises that proved it to be preparing another fireball.

"Hide!" Jesse whispered, then turned and dove behind a pile of soul sand. Olivia followed suit, just barely getting behind the mound before the fireball landed where she had been standing seconds ago. They were all shaking; Jesse peered around the mound at the ghast warily, breathing hard. Reuben was pressed against her side, shivering violently as he let out a few muffled whines. Olivia's shoulders quivered as she peered past Jesse.

"Great," she breathed, "more ghasts." Jesse didn't respond, simply looking towards the other side of the mound. A soft gasp escaped her.

"Th-the minecarts!" Olivia followed her gaze; sure enough, their minecarts were dangling off the side of the platform, precariously close to falling into the lava. Olivia's gaze lifted to the ghast momentarily, then to Jesse.

"Do something about that ghast! I'll take care of the minecarts!" Her tone was firmer than she intended, but it didn't matter. Jesse nodded once, then shuffled through her pocket. After a moment, she pulled the bow she had made out, along with a few arrows she must have picked up from the trap hallway.

"These'll work…" Jesse gripped the bow a little tighter; the ghast made a small noise. They needed to hurry.

"As long as you know what you're doing…" Olivia tensed, glancing at the ghast. Jesse didn't get to respond before a fireball was shot their way. With a startled yelp, they dove out of the way, and moved to take on their jobs.

Olivia coughed a bit at the smoke, then hurried and grabbed the edge of the carts. Her hands ached worse when they met the metal, but she ignored it and pulled. The ghast made a weird noise behind her, preceded by the muffled twang of a bowstring. The carts slowly gave in, and she managed to pull them back on the track. Jesse let out a sigh as she moved to help.

"Hitting the powered tracks… Now!" She released the carts, then hurried forwards and jumped into the front cart. The back cart rattled as Jesse and Reuben pulled themselves into it, and the carts rocketed off down the track again.

"That… That w-was close." Jesse sighed in relief. Olivia glanced back at her.

"I never doubted you for a second, but that was incredible!" She grinned as Jesse smiled sheepishly. "Maybe we have a chance of getting to Ellegaard after all!" The other nodded once as Reuben made a small, excited noise. Olivia turned back around. Ahead of them was a tunnel, a red-lettered sign sitting to the side just in front of it. "Look! There's the sign! Redstonia!" She couldn't suppress the excited laugh that bubbled up. "Redstonia, here we come!"

The carts turned a corner, and quickly lurched to a stop at a fence post. As Olivia clambered out of her cart, she took in the scene. A Nether portal was ahead of them, the floor decorated with quartz embellishments and glowstone blocks. A cavern with a large lava fall was on the far side, the opening mostly blocked off by netherrack.

"We're about to meet some o-of the greatest redstone engineers in the _world_ ," Jesse breathed. Olivia bounced on her toes slightly.

"Wow." They started walking towards the portal as Olivia rubbed the back of her head. "Who would've thought that someday I'd really get to visit Redstonia. Ellegaard's capital city of engineering." She smiled wide. "Incredible." They approached the portal, stopping just in front of it. "Do you think she'll be willing?" Olivia turned to look at Jesse, who glanced at her questioningly. "Y'know… To help?"

Jesse didn't respond, simply turning and hopping into the portal. Olivia followed close behind, with Reuben at her heels.


	18. Redstonia

The portal lead to a platform, held up over the ocean and with no exit. The floor was decorated with red sandstone and gray carpet, the base and roof, as well as the pillars holding up the roof, made of sandstone. For a moment, Olivia wondered if this was the wrong place. But, she quickly noticed the city across a small stretch of open air, sparkling with redstone dust in the air and machines everywhere. They were in the right place; now they just needed a way over.

Right as the thought crossed through her mind, whirring and splashing sounded below them. She shared a glance with Jesse, then looked over the edge of the balcony. A platform was raising up out of the water, aligning with the platform and creating a pathway to the island. They shared a glance again, then started across.

The city seemed kind of small for what it was, but Olivia simply figured that the rest of it was off in another area. What she could see, though was incredibly impressive. Machines were everywhere; one to their right looked like a giant robot made of slime blocks, while one to the back looked like some sort of catapult. In the center of the plaza, there was some sort of fountain, with a lava-filled glass sphere on top, and a platform with crafting tables on each side. To their left, a crowd was standing at the base of a gigantic dome building, where someone was standing on a balcony and shouting down to them. It took her a moment to realize just who it was.

"Jesse, there she is!" Olivia tapped Jesse's arm a few times and motioned towards the balcony. Jesse turned, peering at the woman above them for a second, before her eyes widened in realization. The trio made their way over to join the crowd.

"... hard work inspires me every day!" Ellegaard seemed to be wrapping up her speech. Olivia and Jesse shared an excited look. "I am about to enter my Dome of Concentration, where I will be unreachable-" Olivia's gaze snapped back to the famous inventor- "for the foreseeable future, but I will emerge when I complete my latest and greatest creation: the Command Block!" Olivia was taken aback; a Command Block? Wasn't that what Ivor used to make the…?

Her stomach dropped.

"So please!" Ellegaard continued on; there was no way they knew how much danger they were in. "Continue working. Continue building! And whichever person impresses me the most… _They_ will be my protege!" If things weren't dire, Olivia would be somewhat tempted to try. "Ready to help me usher in a new era of innovation and creativity!" The crowd was excited; people were bouncing on their toes, looking excitedly between each other, and murmuring excited words to one another. Ellegaard paused for a second, smiling at their excitement, before turning towards someone at the edge of the crowd. "Calvin, throw the switch!"

A man not too far from them turned and walked towards a sort of station; it was honestly just a fancy table with three levers. The man, presumably Calvin, flipped one of the levers, and immediately the building in front of them began rumbling. As he flipped the other levers, the windows around the dome were covered, the doorway inside began to close, and the staircase on the wall leading up to the platform began retracting into the wall. The crowd began dispersing.

"Oh no-!" Jesse tensed beside her. Olivia glanced at her, then at the retracting staircase, before she slumped slightly.

"Well, that just made all of this _way_ harder than we needed…" Olivia sighed, turning towards where Calvin had flipped the switches. An idea struck her. "Wait, maybe he'll open it up for us again." Jesse blinked, then glanced towards him. She shrugged, and they made their way over.

"U-uh… Calvin, r-right?" Jesse lifted a hand tentatively as they approached. The man blinked and looked their way.

"... Er, yes, what can I do for you?" He turned to face them, slowly folding his arms behind his back. He had darker skin like Olivia did, with curly black hair, a beard, and glasses; he was wearing a sort of brown suit as well. Olivia stepped forwards carefully.

"Uh, we need to speak with Ellegaard. It's really important." She could tell that Jesse wasn't upset that she finished for her. Calvin blinked, then pulled a hand from behind his back and made a couple of little circle with it as he answered.

"Oh, I'm afraid that's quite impossible. Did you hear the speech?" His hand returned to being tucked behind him. "She's on lockdown until she completes her next great invention." Olivia and Jesse shared a glance, and Calvin smiled lightly. "But, ah, I'm happy to help you with whatever it is you need." Jesse's brows furrowed nervously, and Olivia narrowed her eyes. Calvin gave a leveled glance between them. "I mean… I'm no Ellegaard, but-"

"C-can you give her a message?" The words tumbled from Jesse's mouth, and she bit her lip for a second when Calvin gave her a look of surprise and slight offence at being interrupted. "Please?" Her voice was barely above a whisper this time.

Calvin made a face, eyes narrowing. "Mm, no, I'm afraid not." He stepped closer to Jesse, who visibly tensed. "Look, I can tell you're not from around here. Level with me- who are you? Why do you need to see Ellegaard?"

"We…" Jesse glanced at Olivia. "We h-have a message. F-from Gabriel- Ellegaard's old friend."

Calvin gave them a flat look, then turned away, humming curtly. "You must admit that this all seems a tad outlandish." Olivia glared lightly at the back of his head, before turning to Jesse.

"Jesse, show him the amulet." She urged. Jesse blinked at her, then dug quickly through her pockets. As she retrieved it, Calvin turned to look. The red gem of the amulet was glowing; Olivia hesitated a second, before continuing. "This is Gabriel's amulet. It's how we even found Ellegaard in the first place." Calvin adjusted his glasses, eyes widening.

"Oh, my… Well, that _is_ interesting." He straightened slightly. "If you'd like, I could send that to Ellegaard. Maybe that would help you with your mission?" Jesse blinked, then glanced at Olivia. The engineer shrugged indifferently.

"U-um… S-sure, okay." Jesse timidly held the amulet out to Calvin; he took it, looking it over for a second or two, before moving over to a sort of miniature hopper. He dropped the amulet into the water, where it flowed to a glass tube and was sucked up and away.

"If I'm not mistaken, that should lead right to Ellegaard's private office." Calvin placed his hands on his hips with a satisfied nod. Then after a moment, one hand moved to tap his chin while the other held his elbow. "I might be wrong… Could be wrong; this place is rather complicated..." Olivia and Jesse shared a nervous glance. "Speaking of which…" He turned, walking back towards the table. "I'm afraid I have many more things to attend to than answering all of your questions. I must go." He turned and pulled a repeater from the wiring at the table's base; immediately, the redstone stopped glowing, and it's clicking and popping stopped in an instant. "I'd better just take this and disable the stair controls. Don't want any… Troublemakers…" He shot them a hard look. "Disturbing Ellegaard." With that, he walked off.

"Wow." Olivia folded her arms. "Strict." Jesse nodded slowly. "Guess we'll have to get another repeater."

"Right." Jesse nodded once. Reuben sniffed the ground a moment, then trotted off towards the catapult they had seen before. Now that Olivia looked, one of the people in the crowd was leading a cow to the front, then nodded to a man standing nearby. He flipped a lever, and the cow suddenly rocketed upwards; the large machine moved forwards when the cow reached it's peak height, and it shot forwards and landed in a pool of water. Olivia blinked, then made a face.

Surely someone around here had a spare…?


	19. Repeater

Jesse was surprisingly quick to wander off; though, she didn't go far, only to where Reuben was watching some of the cows. Olivia tucked her hands under her arms again, glancing around the plaza. It seemed like everyone was either running a machine or looking around at the machines. The person that ran the… cow catapult was talking with Jesse now. Between that and Olivia was a strange stone structure, run by a balding, soot-covered man, who seemed oblivious to all of the chatter around them. The cow catapult went off again; a cow landed in the pool of water, creating a splash that hit a woman standing beside her own machine. She let out a loud groan, wiping at her now-soaked overalls and glaring at the catapult woman. A blonde woman in what looked like a flight suit was sitting on top of her build, watching the drenched woman with a hand over her mouth to hide her amusement.

She wanted to talk to someone there, she really did. She was finally in a place she had only ever dreamed of, and it was filled with people who shared her interests. But just the thought of speaking to any of them was terrifying; all of these machines were so complicated and did things she never thought she could make something do. It was almost overwhelming.

No, scratch that- it was absolutely overwhelming.

Honestly, all of these inventors looked so much more confident than her. She felt small; all of these people were so much better than she was, and she had been working for so long. Was she even supposed to be working with redstone? Or was she really supposed to be doing alchemy like her dad?

"Hi, miss!"

Olivia nearly jumped out of her skin; she ended up a step back, shoulders tense and eyes wide as she looked to the source of the voice. A little kid was standing beside her; he looked no older than seven, wearing a green school uniform and khaki shorts. His face was dusted with freckles, with poofy ginger hair and heterochromic eyes; his right a medium brown and the other a bright icy blue. He looked excited to see her, despite the fact that he was talking to a complete stranger.

"Atlas…!" A girl in a similar uniform was hurrying towards the boy; she looked about his age, though she was a bit taller than he was. She was a bit darker-skinned, similar to Jesse, with brown hair that faded to blonde at the ends. Her eyes were the same as her friend's, though the colors were the opposite. She, in all honestly, looked terrified of her. "W-we aren't supposed t-to talk to strangers…!"

"Aw, Wren, it's fine!" The boy waved a hand. Olivia tried a small smile.

"She's right. Stranger danger and all that." Her hands shifted under her arms. The boy tilted his head.

"What's your name?" He smiled wide. His friend seemed startled. Olivia blinked.

"Uh… Olivia." She smiled slightly and waved carefully.

"Cool! My name's Atlas, and this is Wren." He motioned to himself, then to the girl that was still slightly huddled behind him. "See? Now we aren't strangers!" He sounded excited, bouncing on his toes. "Oh! Have you talked to Sandy yet?" She leaned back slightly. Wren slowly uncurled, glancing nervously between them.

"Um…" She glanced around briefly, then back at the children. "No…?"

"C'mon! She has the _coolest_ machine!" Atlas practically jumped three feet into the air, then turned on his heel and started towards the lady who had gotten soaked earlier. Olivia hesitated, and Atlas paused, motioning wildly for her to follow. When she didn't immediately follow, he hurried back and grabbed her arm, before dragging her along.

"Atlas, a-are you sure…?" Wren was wringing her hands.

"Of course I'm sure!" Atlas beamed. He dragged her around a fence, past the drenched woman, before stopping behind the blonde woman's machine. He let go of her arm, and for a second, Olivia forgot she was currently between two of the inventors she was intimidated by. But that second passed, and she tensed in realization, clenching her fists despite the ache that spiked as a result. Her shoulders hurt, presumably with how quickly she got so tense.

"Uh-"

"Hey Sandy!" Atlas cupped his hands around his mouth. The woman turned and looked down at them.

"Oh, hey Atlas!" The woman grinned down at the child, then caught sight of Olivia. She tensed further. "Who's this?"

"Olivia. I wanted to show her your flying machine!" Atlas grinned wider. Wren sent Olivia a tentative apologetic smile.

"Oh, okay. Come around to the front, then." Sandy motioned with a hand, and Atlas quickly started moving around the build. Olivia followed automatically.

Her build had a sort of roof shape made of sandstone stairs and red sandstone. Redstone wiring ran all around it, with a lever on the base of the odd machine. Slime blocks and pistons were covering almost every other nook and cranny. It didn't actually look like much.

"Hey there! Olivia, right?" She nodded tensely. "I'm Sandy. What you see here is a gen-u-ine flying machine!" Sandy grinned widely. Olivia blinked, giving the machine another once-over.

"Does it… Does it actually fly?" She glanced back to Sandy.

"Sure does! Er, but only straight up for now." Her smile turned sheepish, and she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Wow…" Olivia's arms dropped involuntarily. "I don't think I could ever make something like this back at home…" She pulled her hands back under her arms as some of her confidence slipped away. Atlas turned and stared at her with wide eyes.

"You're an inventor too?!" He was likely louder than he had intended, because Wren lightly hit his arm, and his gaze went sheepish for a second. Olivia glanced at him.

"I, well… I wouldn't say _that_ … I'm more of an engineer." She smiled lightly. "Not much of one, but…" She said the last part mostly to herself, but Atlas still heard.

"I bet you're really good!" He grinned widely. "Right Wren?" He glanced at his friend. She blinked at him, then glanced timidly at her and nodded slightly. Olivia watched them a moment, then softened her gaze, allowing a smile.

"Thanks." She relaxed slightly.

"Well, you never know until you try." Sandy shrugged from her perch. Olivia glanced up at her, watching her a moment.

"S-so, uh… I guess heights don't bother you?" She asked lightly.

"What, heights? Nah." Sandy laughed almost forcedly and waved a hand, then sighed. "Yeah, no. I'm terrified of heights."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "But you still want to fly?"

"What can I say?" Sandy shrugged. "The heart wants what it wants."

"Have you tested it?" Atlas looked about ready to jump up onto the machine. Sandy shook her head.

"No, I-" Her eyes went wide suddenly as Atlas suddenly darted forwards to the machine, reaching for the lever. "Atlas, don't you pull that-!" There was a click, and loud whirring drowned out the rest of her statement. Then, suddenly, the machine began jolting upwards. "Oh no-!"

"Atlas!" Wren gave a terrified squeak.

"No, no no, no…" Sandy grabbed ahold of the edge of the machine. "Really high, this is really high…"

"Sorry!" Atlas called up. Sandy took a moment to respond.

"Th-that's okay! Now that I'm completely paralyzed by fear, I'm almost enjoying myself!" Sandy called back. Olivia cringed slightly.

"Did Sandy just-?" The woman who had gotten soaked came walking over. "Did Sandy just take off?" She glanced at Atlas, then at the flipped lever. "... Atlas."

"Sorry…" Atlas pushed his index fingers together. The woman sighed and pinched her nose at the base of her glasses.

"Ask first next time." Atlas nodded immediately. "How are we going to get her down again…?" She looked up at the machine as it disappeared behind a cloud. Then, as if registering Olivia's presence turned to her. "Sorry, he does stuff like this a lot."

"No I don't!" She shot Atlas a glare.

"Yeah you do." She sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Anyways… I don't think I've seen you around before. You a tourist?"

"U-uh… Something like that, I guess." Olivia forced a smile. The woman nodded.

"Name's Gloria. I made this auto-farm over here." She motioned behind her. "Why plant sugar cane when it could be planting itself?" Olivia was about to answer, but was abruptly interrupted by a splash. Gloria didn't even turn around before she started grumbling. "That cow-launching… ghrgh!" It was pretty obvious she wanted to call the cow catapult woman something a lot worse.

"I bet she'd stop if you asked," Atlas offered.

"I have. Several times." Gloria folded her arms. "She thinks I'm just trying to stop her from getting that protege spot. She won't listen to me." Atlas and Wren shared a glance.

"I'll try, then." Olivia noted that Atlas smiled a lot. With that, he grabbed Wren by the hand and hurried away. And with _that_ , Olivia was no longer even slightly comfortable around the inventor in front of her.

Gloria shook her head. "That kid… Always runnin' around and helping anyone he can." She placed a hand on her hip, adjusting the green hat on her head. "So. Mind if I explain my machine? Things've been pretty slow, despite the cows."

"Uh… S-sure." Olivia nodded slightly, and the other woman motioned to the stone box behind her.

"This is my auto-farm. It takes the time you spend planting sugar cane and puts it right back into your rhetorical time pocket. Does everything but put the sugar cane in your inventory." She grinned proudly at it.

"I see…" Olivia gripped her shirt under her arms. "Was it hard to make?"

"Not at all. It's actually surprisingly simple." Gloria shrugged. "Just a matter of lining things up right."

Olivia hummed. "I'll uh… Leave you to it, then." It took a lot to keep her voice casual. Gloria smiled lightly.

"If you need an easier way to farm sugar cane, you know where to look." Olivia forced a small smile, then turned and made her way back to the control table.

"There you are." Jesse was waiting for her there, Reuben beside her. "I g-got a few things from some o-of the inventors… A-and a really hyper kid…" Olivia blinked. "B-but, uh… I don't know i-if this is what I'd need t-to make a repeater."

"Oh, cool." Olivia dropped her arms slightly. "You need three stone blocks, two redstone torches, and a thing of redstone dust." Jesse was digging through her pocket as Olivia spoke. She nodded once.

"Okay. N-now I just need a crafting table." She glanced around.

"There was one by that fountain." Olivia motioned with a nod to the center of the plaza. "It's open, too." Jesse followed her motion, then nodded once.

"Be right back." She and Reuben made their way over to the center of the plaza. Olivia watched them wander away, then took a quick glance around the plaza.

She hadn't noticed until now that the cow catapult- she was just gonna call it the cowapult- wasn't going anymore; in fact, she didn't even see the woman who had been running it. That said, she didn't see the two children either. Then again, the plaza was pretty big, so there was probably a corner she hadn't seen that they could be in. She glanced at Jesse, who was placing something on the crafting table. Not a second later, a mix of smoke and redstone dust puffed off of the table; Jesse waved it away, leaning back a moment, then grabbed the repeater and hurried back.

"G-got it." She grinned as she reached her. Olivia returned the grin, then nodded to the broken circuit.

Jesse stepped over and placed the repeater down, causing it to light up and indicate that it was working. Jesse then tentatively stepped over to the table. She eyed the levers warily, then pushed on the lever closest to Olivia. Behind her, the stairs were pushed out of the wall, leading up to the balcony. Jesse hesitated, then pushed the far lever. Up on the balcony, the sound of a door opening reverberated down to them.

"Sweet. Let's go." The trio quickly hurried to the staircase and ascended it with ease, before moving through the doorway. Just inside was another set of stairs, descending down into a glowing room. Jesse lead the way down them, into a sort of foyer. On either side were lines of sand connected to redstone, and a closed doorway at the far end of the room.

Excitement bubbled up in Olivia's chest. "I can't believe we're actually in Ellegaard's laboratory…" Jesse shot her an amused grin.

"Well, we're getting s-somewhere…" She paused a moment, her smile fading. "I just hope she can help us…"

Olivia glanced around the room. There was a lever just beside her, connected to the circuit that lead to the sand on the left side of the room. She glanced to the other side, spotting another lever. "Do you think these levers do anything?" Jesse followed her gaze.

"Probably. I-I mean, why else would she h-have them?" Jesse smiled sheepishly, then moved over to the other lever. "On three?"

"On three." Olivia nodded once, placing her hand on the lever beside her.

"One… Two… Three!" At Jesse's call, they both flipped their levers. The lines of sand immediately began moving up and down in a ripple effect, but nothing else seemed to happen. Jesse stepped back slightly, and accidentally stepped on a pressure plate beside her. In response, the doorway opened up.

"Well, that solves that problem," Olivia mused. The other woman shrugged and moved through the doorway. Olivia and Reuben followed suit.

They found themselves in a huge room, tubes moving items in every direction. Redstone circuits and lines popped and clicked all around them. Olivia stared around in awe.

"Wow. This might be the most redstone… stuff I've ever seen…" Jesse placed her hands on her hips.

"You can say that again." Olivia tore her eyes from the tubes.

They continued on, Olivia following Reuben through a gold doorway. The second she was on the other side, however, the gold blocks suddenly slammed together. They proceeded to pull apart and slam together again; it seemed to be something of a vertical grinder. The only issue was that Jesse was still on the other side.

"What are these even for?" The other woman's voice was barely heard over the slamming of blocks.

"Maybe… I don't know, breaking things up. Keeping intruders out. There are lots of possibilities," Olivia called back. "There's probably something connected to it. If there's a repeater, just set it to the fourth tick; that should slow it down so you can get through."

She could see Jesse turn and move to the side between openings, and there was a muffled click. The grinder thing slowed decently. Another click, and the grinder slowed almost to a stop. Jesse moved back over, and after hesitating a moment, darted through and managed to time it right that the thing closed on her hair.

"Ow!" Jesse stumbled back half a step, then pulled her hair away from it when it opened again, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah, th-that hurt."

"I bet." Olivia pat her shoulder lightly. "You did good, though. You're pretty good at this." The shorter woman shot a grateful smile her way, then began glancing around the room. Olivia followed suit.

More tubes moving items were scattered around, moving more items than the previous set of tubes. "She's moving a _lot_ of ingredients around. Look at all this…" Olivia trailed off in amazement.

"I-I don't think I know w-what I'm looking at," Jesse admitted, rubbing an arm.

"Honestly, I'm not too sure either." Olivia shrugged. Jesse paused a moment, then motioned with a hand to continue.

Ahead of them was a lava curtain, blocking off the entire pathway. Between it and them was a lone lever. Jesse moved forwards and flipped it, causing the lava to stop flowing from its source. Past it, the pathway turned a corner. Jesse and Olivia shared a glance, then followed it to a sort of control module thing. A row of operating pistons holding quartz blocks together was on one side, with circuits all around the other.

Jesse approached the pistons and eyed another lever, before shrugging and flipping it. The pistons opened in a ripple, revealing a zipper. Jesse backed away from it, eyeing it warily. "Wh-what is this?"

"It's a zipper." Olivia moved to stand next to her. "It uses signs and water to make a sort of elevator. I guess we're supposed to go up it." Jesse hesitated, still eyeing the zipper, before moving forward and stepping inside. She was immediately pulled into it, hovering in place for a moment, before more-or-less swimming upwards. Olivia climbed in after her and followed suit. Reuben was just behind her.

They reached the top in a matter of seconds. Jesse pulled herself out and stepped aside so Olivia could do the same. Olivia hauled herself onto the platform and pushed herself up, stepping aside so Jesse could pull Reuben out of the zipper, before glancing around.

The room they were in was a gray-walled dome of a room, the floor lined with orange stained glass with redstone running underneath. On one wall, there were multitudes of levers and item frames, while the other side had a sort of chute. The far wall had a large sort of machine, with crafting tables attached to pistons in the center. Levers and buttons were connected to all kinds of redstone circuits. Working on one of said circuits, of course, was the woman they had been looking for. Ellegaard had her back to them, huddled over her work for a few seconds, though she quickly stood and backed away.

"Jesse, there she is!" Olivia whispered, tapping Jesse's arm. The other woman gave her an amused glance.

"Time to pace around and check the systems." Ellegaard began pacing as she spoke; she hadn't seen them. Jesse and Olivia shared a glance as Ellegaard began mumbling to herself.

"Should we stop her?" Jesse whispered. Olivia shrugged. Reuben gave a small huff.

His huff was enough to catch Ellegaard's attention, as she jumped and turned quickly around. "Oh! Hi, hey. Didn't see you sneaking up on me!" She paused. "... Guess that's the point. Uh, don't touch anything in here; it's all supremely fragile, and… Genius." Jesse moved forwards a couple of steps, and Olivia forced herself out of her awestruck state and followed suit. "Did Calvin send you? Are you my new assistants?" Olivia and Jesse shared a glance. "Assistants with a stupidly adorable pig that is!" Reuben snorted happily.

Jesse's hands were hovering in front of her chest, and she moved one out slightly. "U-uh-"

"No time for specifics, I'm afraid," Ellegaard interrupted; Jesse retracted her hand. "Hey you," Ellegaard glanced at Olivia, who forced herself not to flinch back, "goggle girl. Switch on that T-Flop circuit to activate the delivery chutes." The inventor turned to Jesse. "And you, non-goggle girl? Get me a blaze rod and and an iron block." With that, she turned around to examine her machine again.

"She…" Olivia's voice was barely above a whisper. "She asked me to do something for her." Her hands shivered. "What if I screw it up? What if…?" She put a hand to her head as a wave of dizziness hit her.

"H-hey, are you okay…?" Jesse sounded muffled.

"I-I feel kinda… lightheaded…" A hand found her arm as she spoke; presumably Jesse's.

She couldn't respond to it before her legs buckled underneath her.

* * *

 **AN: i needed Olivia to talk to the inventors okay i had to**

 **uh, Atlas is a friend's character, and Wren is kind of shared between me and the same friend. sorry the chapter took so long to get out, i had some things to do today ;v;**

 **until next time!**


	20. Ellegaard

The next thing she knew, Olivia was lying on the ground, Jesse leaning over her and shaking her shoulders gently with one hand, while fanning her slightly with the other. Reuben was on the other side of her, watching something else.

Every little ache she'd had before was twice as bad now. Her head pounded, her hands could barely move, and her shoulders felt as if she had been giving Axel a piggyback ride. On top of that, her excitement must have caught up with her, as she felt waves of nausea hitting her every thirty seconds or so.

Olivia pushed a hand to her head, and Jesse let out a little sigh of relief. The other wrapped her hands around her arm and pulled her to her feet; Olivia shot her a wary glance.

"I don't think…" She lowered her hand slightly. "I don't think I've ever fainted before…"

"N-not while I've known you." Jesse gave a small, somewhat reassuring smile. "Not that I know of, at-"

"Oh." Jesse recoiled at Ellegaard's voice. "Hmm." Olivia glanced up at the inventor. Jesse hadn't done what Ellegaard had asked of her, that much was pretty obvious. "I'll just get it myself, then." She turned and hurried off towards the levers.

Olivia felt a hot flash of embarrassment pass through her, and she rubbed her face with her free hand. "God…"

"Y-you okay?" Jesse had started to let go, but hesitated. "A-are you still dizzy?"

"No. Well…" Olivia looked at the floor ahead of her. "Not enough to pass out again. That was just…" She sighed. "God, that's just… The one person I've always wanted to meet, and I pass out on her floor." Jesse released her arm, then pat it sympathetically.

Ellegaard moved back to her machine and placed some items down on the lower crafting table. They almost seemed randomly strewn out, but she placed them incredibly precisely. She then turned moving back towards a lever, hitting a button and a different lever, before flipping the stray lever at the back of the room. All four crafting tables in the machine pushed together, forming a space just big enough for a block to form. A vague ghost shape of a command block appeared, jolting around, changing shape and flickering.

"C'mon…" Ellegaard urged it. "Big winner, big winner, big-" The pistons retracted, the apparition vanishing. " _Loser!_ Ugh…" She folded her arms. "Trial number six thousand, four hundred fifty-one… Another bust." She huffed, then turned to face them. "Now, about you three." Jesse took a half step away from Olivia, hands still raised cautiously. "Uh, your friend here." Ellegard watched Jesse while motioning to Olivia. "Does she fall over frequently? Is this going to be a regular occurrence?" Olivia flinched.

"I- No, I'm sorry, I was just…" She fumbled with her words for a few seconds. "I don't know what happened, I-I was just so excited to-"

"And with me always pacing around," Ellegaard interrupted her, "lost in my own brilliant thoughts, I could have tripped over you and conked my brain." Olivia flinched again.

"I-it's not her fault," Jesse eked out. "W-we've had a-a rough day."

"Really now." Ellegaard made a face, placing her hands on her hips. "I don't see what that has to do with her little accident, but… Whatever. I'd just rather not have my assistants lying on my floor."

"We… We aren't assistants," Olivia spoke through a cough, then cleared her throat. "We came to ask for your help."

Jesse nodded shyly. "Th-there's a Wither Storm o-on the loose, and it's eating th-the world."

"A Wither what?" Ellegaard made a face, taking on a suspicious tone. "What are you talking about? Who- who sent you?"

Olivia and Jesse shared a glance. "Gabriel did," Olivia said quietly. She technically wasn't wrong; Gabriel _had_ told Jesse to find the rest of the Order.

Ellegaard's eyes narrowed. "Look. You both seem like very nice people," she turned and started back towards her machine, "who are prone to fainting," Olivia flinched, "but I simply don't have the brainpower for this. I'm in the middle of my greatest creation to date. A powerful block that can alter reality itself!" Ellegaard turned to face them, an excited grin pushing at her lips.

"A-are you sure m-making a Command Block i-is safe?" Jesse rubbed the back of her hand. "F-from what we've seen, th-they can be pretty dangerous."

Ellegaard stared at her, then shook her head and moved her hands in a stopping motion. "Wait wait wait…" She lowered her hands, looking suspiciously at Jesse. "How do _you_ know what a Command Block is? Not to seem belittling, but we are talking about some mega ultra-genius level stuff here."

"Ivor used one t-to make the Wither Storm." Jesse tried to calm her wavering voice. "The world needs the Order of the Stone. Th-that's why we're here."

" _Oh_ , oh oh oh oh oh." Ellegaard suddenly turned and walked off, hitting a lever and snatching something from the dispenser that it was connected to, before moving back to face them. " _You're_ the ones who brought me this." She lifted a hand, holding the amulet. The red gem glowed so bright that Olivia almost couldn't look at the amulet at all. "It came up, no note or anything, and I was terribly curious as to where it had come from." She glanced at it. "Haven't seen one of these in a _long_ time."

"Y-yeah, Gabriel gave th-that to me." Jesse smiled slightly in relief. "Th-that's how we found you."

The inventor's eyes widened slightly. "He did…?"

Olivia smiled nervously. "So, um… Could we get that back?"

"Yeah, sure," she shrugged casually, "whatever. I never liked amulets anyways." She handed it to Jesse, then turned away, pacing again. "Yes, this is serious indeed. All the more reason that I need to finish my Command Block. I can use it to fight this Wither Storm… monster… thing. Whatever." She turned to face them again. "Necessity is the originator of invention. ANd that monster is my necessity of inventing, of which I am the originator."

"Th-that…" Jesse glanced at Olivia briefly. "That sounds great, b-but…"

"Your monster was created by a Command Block, yes? That means that a Command Block could be the perfect way of _beating_ it!" Jesse and Olivia shared a long glance. "Will you help me make one?" Their gazes snapped back to the inventor. "It's going to work this time, I can feel it!"

For a good several seconds, neither of them said anything. While she was completely right about a Command Block being a way to defeat the Wither Storm, but seeing as how it was taking so long to successfully make one…

"We can't." Olivia eked out.

Ellegaard gave a single sharp, offended laugh, folding her arms. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't have time." She tried to explain further. "It'll take too long to make one, and that thing could get here any minute now." Ellegaard glanced at Jesse, who nodded in agreement.

"Hmph. This seems terribly short-sighted." She approached Jesse. "I thought you were the brains of your little trio." Jesse flinched back. "This could be the greatest invention the world has ever seen." Her gaze softened, tone turning almost upset. "It could change everything."

"I-I'm sorry," Jesse squeaked, "th-there's just no time." Ellegaard watched her levelly for a moment, then narrowed her eyes with a huff and started towards the exit. Jesse let out a shaky breath, and Olivia placed a hand on her back reassuringly, before the trio followed her back through the lab. The walk through was silent; no one said anything until they were back in the foyer.

"While I'm very glad you want my assistance- and trust me, I won't faint-" Olivia flinched at this as they moved up the stairs to the outside- "I'm still not sure why-" She cut herself off as she reached the top, freezing in place. "Oh my circuits…" Olivia and Jesse glanced at each other, then hurried the rest of the way up the steps.

The Wither Storm was here. It was flying over the plaza, sucking up the machines and the inventors with them. Ellegaard glanced back at them, then took off across the balcony, towards the stairs. Jesse and Olivia followed suit, Reuben at Jesse's heels.

Olivia was nearly at the bottom when a tentacle slammed into the steps, breaking away a good chunk of them and knocking Ellegard to the ground. She jumped the rest of the way down and pulled her up as Jesse jumped over the gap. She nearly fell, but caught herself and stopped next to Olivia, Reuben still at her side.

"It seems you were telling the truth…" Ellegaard said quietly. "I feel we should get to the portal. Now. As soon as possible!" She turned and took off towards the bridge to the portal's tower. Olivia was right behind her, and Jesse was close behind. They darted past the auto farm; Gloria was nowhere to be seen. "The portal, this way!" Olivia was pretty sure Ellegaard was yelling both to them and to any other citizens that could hear her.

There was a screech; Olivia's head snapped around to see Jesse dangling from a tentacle that wrapped itself around the woman's waist. She was pounding on it with both her hands and her sword, while Reuben squealed at it from below. Finally, it let go, and Jesse tumbled to the ground, rolling for only a second before catching herself and standing, following them to the bridge.

"Over here!" Ellegaard was already across the bridge, waving them down. Olivia turned sharply, her momentum causing her to skid a little, then hurried across the bridge. Her chest was tight and she stepped to the side to catch her breath. Jesse was about halfway across the bridge, but the section of bridge behind her was gone, and she section between them was being pulled up.

"Jesse!" Olivia was immediately sent into a coughing fit. She managed to subdue it in time to see Jesse leap across the gap. She landed with half a foot on the steps, and immediately slipped and nearly fell. Olivia quickly pushed past Ellegaard and reached down. Jesse had caught herself with one hand, and swung the other up to take hold of her hands. With a little effort, and aggressively ignoring the pain that shot through both of her hands, Olivia managed to pull Jesse up onto firm ground.

"We need to go." Ellegaard backed towards the portal. "Now." The inventor was trembling, staring at the Wither Storm with wide eyes. She then turned and pushed herself through the portal. Reuben was close behind her, Olivia and Jesse following suit.

Going through portals was getting easier to go through, but that still didn't change the fact that Olivia hated it. Part of the reason that she hated it was likely that she nearly fell every time she came out of it; this time was no different. She managed to catch herself before she fell this time, luckily, but Jesse wasn't as quick and ran right into her, knocking both of them over.

"Sorry…!" Jesse quickly pushed herself up. "Sorry sorry sorry…!" Olivia pushed herself up, rubbing an arm.

"It's fine, Jesse. Let's get going; I don't want to be here longer than we have to." Olivia glanced at Ellegaard, who was already beside the minecarts. Jesse nodded quickly, and they hurried over. Jesse picked Reuben up and clambered into a cart, Olivia climbing into the other empty cart. The carts then rolled slowly for a second, before rocketing down the track.

* * *

 **AN: sorry sorry sorry this is late but i just had a lot to do yesterday jkfjdkj**

 **i know i had something else to put here but i can't remember it now s o**

 **until next time!**


	21. Return

The journey back to the temple was incredibly quiet, to say the least. No one really had anything to say. The journey through the Nether went without a hitch this time around, so it was only a matter of time before they were back in the Overworld, the hill to the Order's temple behind them. Ellegaard seemed startled by the fact that the temple had sunken into the hill, but quickly shrugged it off as they began climbing. The thing _was_ massive, after all.

"J-just a little bit further…!" Jesse was at the top of the vine wall, looking down at them. Ellegaard was nearly at the top, Olivia close behind. Ellegaard was quick to pull herself over the ledge, brushing off her front as Olivia grabbed for the ledge.

"Well. That's certainly impressive. Wow." Olivia managed to haul herself up and looked at the temple. The entire front side was fortified with an assortment of clashing blocks; bricks and cobblestone covered in vines lined the holes that had been there before, pumpkins and melons in some gaps. It was rather messy, but it worked. Jesse and Ellegaard hopped down to the entranceway, Olivia and Reuben close behind.

Landing was still insanely hard; Olivia stumbled forwards a few steps and Jesse actually fell over. Ellegaard seemed to be the only one unfazed by the drop. Olivia took a few seconds to regain her bearings, then looked to Jesse. She was eyeing the entrance somewhat curiously, then glanced back at them.

A hiss echoed off of the walls of the indent; Olivia whipped around, rapidly taking in a breath and backing rapidly away as a creeper approached them, hissing threateningly. Then, out of nowhere, four arrows shot out, sticking themselves into the side of the creeper; one in the head, two in the side, and one in it's front leg. The creeper immediately fell over, disintegrating into a puff of smoke. Olivia released her breath and shot a relieved glance towards Jesse.

"Who goes there?!" Her gaze moved to the entranceway above them. A blond head was visible past a vine-covered cobblestone block. An arrow was pointed in their direction, but it quickly lowered. "Jesse? Is that you?" Jesse gave a small wave.

"Hi, Lukas," she called up. The bow was quickly put away.

"Oh, thank God, you're back!" He waved excitedly. Olivia grinned slightly and waved.

"D-did you build all of this?" Jesse eyed the entranceway again. Lukas shrugged.

"I did stuff inside. Axel actually built this part," he called down.

"Apparently," Olivia mumbled, grinning slightly. Reuben snorted and but his head against her leg.

"I'm so glad you're back!" Lukas hopped from foot to foot. "Hold up, let me let you in." The blond disappeared. Jesse let out a little sigh of relief as they moved over to the entrance. An iron door was covering the entranceway, likely to keep out mobs. It didn't take long for Lukas to reappear, pulling the door open. "You'll never believe who showed up while you were gone." His gaze flashed with excitement. Jesse paused, sharing a startled glance with Olivia, before they moved inside.

It took Olivia a solid ten seconds to fully register the situation.

Petra was leaning against the wall just inside, watching them with a tired smile. Jesse had frozen just far enough inside that Olivia could slide in behind her.

"Petra!" Olivia couldn't hide the relief from her voice. Petra pushed off of the wall.

"Hey, guys." The redhead gave a half wave, moving forwards a few steps. "How's it going?"

"She showed up not too long before you guys did." Lukas shut the door behind them.

"Oh, it's so good to see you!" The engineer stepped forwards and grabbed Petra in a loose hug, briefly, then let go, her hands resting on the other's arms. Her right hand was tingling slightly, but she ignored that. "We've been worried."

"Heh, good to see you too, worrywart." Petra ruffled her hair through her hat, causing Olivia to let go and shift her hat back in place. Petra snorted in amusement, then knelt down to pat Reuben's head as he ran around her feet excitedly.

"I-it's such a relief to see you…!" Jesse let out a little sigh of relief. Petra and Jesse shared a brief hug as well, before Petra's smile fell.

"Once you pulled me out of that beam, I ran, and ran, and _ran_ for the temple." She sighed. "If you hadn't pulled me out of that tractor beam…" She shuddered. They started slowly down the hallway, which had been stripped of the traps.

"Yeah…" Jesse rubbed an arm. "D-did… Did anyone e-else get away?"

Petra didn't respond immediately. "... No. Everything, everyone… All of it was just gone." She shot a backwards glance at Jesse. "It even got Gabriel." Jesse flinched and looked away. Olivia shot a glance towards Ellegaard, who was staring wide-eyed at the back of Petra's head.

The group fell into silence as they entered the enchantment room, going around the side to the stairs. As they walked, Olivia fell to the back of their little line. The Potion of Healing was still there, sitting right where'd she'd replaced it. For a few seconds, she almost continued on. It was old, it wouldn't do much of anything for them. But… She had been feeling like absolute shit since her little slip up in Redstonia. Not that she had been feeling that great before that, anyways. It felt selfish of her, to consider taking such a valuable resource.

One look at her hands, and her mind was made up.

She snatched the potion and pocketed it, before following the others up the stairs.

"Wow. Haven't been here in a long time…" Ellegaard was talking to Jesse at the top of the steps when Olivia caught up. "It's almost just like I remember it." Olivia glanced around. It was definitely more sound than it had before. The blocks used up here were a bit nicer-looking, aesthetically speaking, and it was much better than the entrance build-wise.

"We've done what we could to fortify the place over the past couple of days," Lukas admitted. Ellegaard nodded, turning to look at the gap in the wall. Her satisfied look fell away, replaced immediately by hostility.

"Uh, what is _he_ doing here?" She motioned towards the opening. Olivia followed her motion, spotting two figures standing near the edge. One of them was Axel, who she recognized immediately. The other figure was a man she could only assume was Magnus. He was practically bald; she couldn't tell if he had a shaved head, or if he had burned his hair off. He was short; probably not shorter than Jesse was, but still surprisingly short. He had a green jumpsuit, and a black mask around his eyes.

"Call this a hunch," Petra placed a hand on her hip and looked at Ellegaard. "But do you two not like each other?"

"Yeah, I forgot to mention." Lukas rubbed the back of his neck. "Axel went on a little… Adventure of his own while you were gone."

"Did you know about this?" Ellegaard turned on Jesse, who lifted her hands defensively. "You did this on purpose."

"Whoa, take it easy," Lukas warned warily.

"We didn't know he was going," Olivia tried to explain. "Though, I'm not that surprised…"

"I will not work with him," Ellegaard said firmly. "Not after-" she cut herself off. "Well, let's not talk about that."

"O-okay, okay. L-let me figure out what's going o-on." Jesse lowered her hands, turning and making her way over to the two griefers.

"Much appreciated." Ellegaard folded her arms. Olivia let out a long, near-silent sigh.

Well _this_ would be interesting.

* * *

 **AN: short little chapter today, tomorrow's will be longer.**

 **until next time!**


	22. Secret

Jesse was only talking to Magnus and Axel for about two minutes before Ellegaard moved over to join the conversation. When she did, Lukas was surprisingly quick to turn to Olivia.

"So, how was Redstonia?" The blond gave a small, friendly smile. Olivia blinked, somewhat startled by the question.

"It was… It was cool. There were tons of machines I've never even imagined making." Olivia forced a smile onto her face, trying to shove away the growing embarrassment from her incident. Something in her tone must've given that away.

"Did something happen?" Petra folded her arms, raising an eyebrow. "Was it not what you thought it'd be?"

"What? No, no, Redstonia was amazing." Olivia waved a hand. Petra and Lukas shared a glance.

"... right. That thing was probably the worst thing I've ever encountered." Olivia turned, spotting Ellegaard as she walked towards the row of chairs, Magnus watching her with an odd look as he walked beside her. Olivia moved forwards to stand beside Axel.

"What, was it too much for you, Ellie?" Any sympathy Magnus might've held was gone before she could spot it. Ellegaard hesitated. "Couldn't just _think_ it away?" Ellegaard's gaze turned hard.

"Hey, that thing destroyed _everything_!" The inventor's voice wavered ever so slightly. "Almost everyone and everything in Redstonia is _gone_ , and you're treating it like _nothing_!"

"Yikes…" Petra inhaled through her teeth.

"H-hey," Jesse warily extended a hand. "W-we need t-to focus on s-stopping that thing." Ellegaard inhaled sharply, then let out a long sigh.

"Yes, we do. We can't let that happen again." She moved down the steps and stood in front of Olivia.

"We just need a way to destroy that thing." Petra let her arms drop.

"Hah. I don't know if you've noticed, but this place is pretty much stripped bare." Magnus glanced at Jesse. "Besides. We'd probably need a mountain of TNT to stop that thing. And we don't have the time to get that much stuff."

"If only Soren were here. He'd have something we could use," Ellegard mumbled.

"Oh, Ellie." Magnus made a face. "Not this again."

"Oh, hush. I think I have a legitimate idea here," Ellegaard countered.

"You know I hate it when you brag about you and Soren's little brainy club." Magnus folded his arms.

"Wait, what did Soren have?" Lukas edged forwards slightly.

"He had this kind of super TNT. Stronger and more explosive than anything else in the world." Ellegaard paused, likely for dramatic effect. "The Fomidi-Bomb." Olivia glanced at Axel, who looked pretty excited at the idea of extra-explosive TNT.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I've heard all about the F-bomb before." Magnus rolled his eyes. Axel made a face like he was trying not to laugh.

"F-bomb?"

"Yep. Soren claimed that the F-bomb could destroy _anything_."

"I-is that even possible?" Jesse sounded almost scared.

"Well… We never tested it." Ellegaard shrugged. "There's just one problem. We don't know where Soren is." Olivia could practically feel everyone's hearts drop. "But… You found _us_ ; do you know where he is?"

Jesse glanced at the map, then moved towards it. Ellegaard and Magnus were the first to follow her, closely followed by everyone else.

"Our map could locate him," Ellegaard mused. "Unless he's in the Nether. Or the End." She paused for only a second. "But, it's worth a shot." Jesse nodded once, and the group dispersed. Olivia backed away from the group, watching as Axel and Magnus continued their previous conversation and Ellegaard moved to look at the map. Jesse moved to talk to Petra, who was sitting on the steps at the base of the map.

Hot embarrassment hit her for what felt like the millionth time that day. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that Ellegaard sort of judged her. Every time the inventor had spotted her, an odd look came across her face and she was always quick to look away. It was something she had known others to do when they would judge someone silently.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a wave of dizziness and another pang of nausea. She nearly fell over, catching herself last-minute. She stood still for a few seconds, almost scared to move, before she looked at her hands.

The odd purple spots had spread. Her left hand was almost covered in them, some beginning on her wrist, while the spots on her right hand was close behind it. They both hurt like hell, and she was pretty sure her unaffected arm was paler than it had been before. Panic was setting in now; everything was going wrong. Her hands were slowly reaching a state of uselessness, she felt like shit, and there was no way she could hide this much longer.

She glanced up as Jesse approached her, and she casually folded her hands under her arms again.

"Hi Olivia. H-how're you holding up?" Jesse gave a small wave and a worried smile. Olivia couldn't bite back the sigh that escaped her.

"I'm alright, I suppose." Her answer caused Jesse's smile to fall.

"Y-you're still upset about the… Th-the fainting thing." Jesse's arms folded more in slight discomfort than anything. Olivia only barely managed to force down a flinch.

"Yeah… I'm just- she's one of the people I've _always_ wanted to meet, and I do _that_." She shot a wary glance towards the inventor. "I'm pretty sure she judges me for it."

"Well… I-I bet she understands. Maybe." Jesse fumbled with her words. "I-I mean… We've been r-running from the Wither Storm f-for a while, w-we both didn't sleep well last night-" her gaze turned thoughtful- "or the night before…" Her gaze quickly reverted to the comforting one she had tried before. "W-we've been through a lot, a-and she probably understands that you didn't m-mean to do that."

"Yeah, I guess." Olivia pulled a wary smile. Jesse returned it, then glanced behind her at the lamp table. Olivia noticed then that the amulet was back on the pedestal.

Jesse shot her a final comforting grin, before she turned and walked over to the table. Olivia watched as she flipped a lever on the table, and the beam of light to shoot from the lamp and hit the amulet. The two colored beams shot out of the red and green gems, meeting in the center of the map. Olivia carefully approached as Jesse came back around to the map.

"Alright. There's your light, my light…" Magnus trailed off. There were still only two lights; there was no telling where Soren was. The group glanced between each other nervously.

A white light shot out of the white gem of the amulet. The beam landed up in the North, up in the Northern Mountains.

"Th-that must be Soren!" Jesse shared a glance with Olivia.

"That's right; Soren built his fortress way up in the mountains." Ellegaard placed her hands on her hips. "After the Order… broke up, that's where he went to keep doing his experiments." Magnus shot her a sideways glance.

"Look, he invited me there a couple of times, but it always seemed a little…" He trailed off.

"Weird, right?" Ellegaard finished for him, returning his glance. "It always seemed a little weird."

"Glad we can agree on _that_ at any rate." Magnus folded his arms.

"I mean," Ellegaard's voice quieted slightly, "I never actually _went_ there with him."

"That's probably the only time you've made the right call." Magnus dropped his arms. Jesse watched them silently, somewhat unfocused.

"So you guys, what, don't know where it is?" Lukas snapped her back to reality. The two Order members glanced at him, then at each other.

The amulet made an odd noise, just for a second, before a fourth light flickered on, landing way Southeast of them. This light was a dark blue, matching the center gem on the amulet perfectly. Olivia shared a startled glance with Axel.

"Whoa…" Ellegaard sounded more amazed than anything.

"It didn't do that last time…" Olivia shifted her hands under her arms.

"Are you sure it's working?" Lukas glanced at Jesse, who shrugged. For a good few seconds, no one said anything. Then, all heads turned to Jesse as she muffled a gasp with her hand.

"Oh no…" She lowered her hand, using the other to point at the blue light, which was now moving. "Th-that's Ivor!" About half of them all flinched back in surprise. Ellegaard looked at the map.

"Ivor is going to Soren's… We need to move!" She turned to Jesse. Jesse stepped forwards, peering at the map.

"I-it's not too far, w-we could probably make it o-on foot." She turned to face them.

"Righteous." Magnus placed his hands on his hips. "We can rest up here and head off in the morning. Avoid all of the-" he started motioning with his hands, taking on a wavy spooky voice- "nighttime, and monsters, and-" he dropped the act- "everything."

"No way. We need to go _now_. We can't risk that thing catching up with us." Ellegaard folded her arms. "We'll be in way more danger than mobs could ever be if that thing gets here."

"Yeah. Because being out in the dark is _so_ much better." Magnus glared at her. Jesse stood silently glancing between the two, before letting out a small sigh.

"I-I don't want the Wither Storm t-to catch up either. B-but a-almost all of us here h-haven't exactly… Gotten a lot of rest. W-we all need it." Jesse was wringing her hands again. "W-we'll head out at Burning."

"Sounds like a plan." Magnus shot a grin at Ellegaard, who glared.

"You're just saying that because it's _your_ plan, but fine." Ellegaard folded her arms. "We're gonna need beds, though."

"I've got plenty of wool from when we were gathering materials. It should be more than enough." Lukas started digging through his pockets.

"Awesome." Magnus nodded once.

They all split up, looking for something to do until it was late enough to sleep. Olivia glanced between her friends, then moved back to where she had been before. She leaned back against the wall, and slid down to a sitting position. She wasn't quite sure why, but she wasn't up for socializing. Olivia pulled the old potion from her pocket, holding it against her legs, which were knees-up in front of her.

The potion hadn't changed. It was still bright pink, still thick, and still old. She tipped the bottle, watching the liquid stick to the sides of the glass.

"Hey Olivia." She glanced up to see Petra in front of her. "Mind if I sit with you for a bit?"

"Go ahead." Olivia shrugged. The redhead moved forwards and plopped down to her right. For a few seconds, she said nothing.

"What's that?" Petra motioned to the bottle.

"Potion of Healing that I found downstairs." Olivia tipped the bottle a different way. "It's really old, unsurprisingly. Not necessarily of too much use."

"Huh." Petra peered at it. "Why'd you grab it?"

"We can still use it. It'll still do something." Olivia glanced at the redhead. "Did you need it-?"

"No." Petra cut her off. Her answer almost seemed too quick. "Just curious, that's all." She paused for a second. "How do you know so much about potions?"

"My dad was an alchemist." She shrugged. "I don't know much."

"Still more than I know." Petra shrugged. Silence lapsed over them. Olivia tilted the bottle again. For a few seconds, the potion sloshed in the direction the bottle went. Then, right as it stopped, Petra suddenly grabbed her left hand harshly and yanked it towards her.

"Ow, what?" Olivia half attempted to pull her hand away, which was unsuccessful. Petra was staring at her palm, then turned her hand over and looked at the back of it. After a second, she did the same with Olivia's other hand. Then, she turned and stared at her, eyes wide. "Wh-what?"

"You have Withersickness?" Petra's voice was barely above a whisper. Olivia furrowed her brows.

"What? I-I don't know what you're-"

"Your hands." Petra let go of her hands, and she pulled them up to look at them. "That's Withersickness. Bad case of it, too." She glanced at her worriedly. "It's usually not that bad. Makes you stiff and kinda sick but it goes away. That, though…" Olivia watched her for a moment.

"Don't tell anyone." Her voice shook slightly. "Please. They don't need any more stress."

Petra looked at her for a long moment, then sighed. "Okay. _I_ won't tell them. But if it gets worse, _you're_ telling them." That was surprisingly easy.

"Y-yeah…" Olivia looked at her hands for several long minutes. "Petra?"

"Hmm?" The redhead glanced at her.

"... How bad is this?" Her voice wobbled.

Petra watched her, conflict flashing through her gaze. "... Pretty bad. If it gets much worse, I don't know what'll happen to your hands." She leaned back. "I've heard of cases of it that messes up someone's nerves. I had a client once who permanently couldn't move his hand because of a case of it." Olivia inhaled sharply. "But… Actually, how much will that potion do?"

"Uh…" Olivia looked at it warily. "Not a lot. It could probably heal cuts and stuff, b-but nothing major."

"Use it." She blinked at the redhead. "It could slow it from getting any worse, at the very least." She eyed the potion again. She apparently took too long, because Petra took the bottle and pulled the cork out. A sickeningly sweet smell came out of the bottle immediately, and Petra visibly tried not to gag. "Here. Go on." Olivia hesitantly took the bottle, watching the liquid for a long moment.

Then, she pinched her nose and did her best to down it.

Petra had to take the bottle again as Olivia started coughing harshly. The thing tasted _horrible_ , and it felt almost like it coated her tongue. "Ugh, Jesus, that tastes as bad as it smelled…"

"I can tell." Petra sounded faintly amused. "I'd offer you water, but there isn't any inside."

"It'd dilute the effects anyways..." Olivia waved a hand, sputtering the sentence out between coughs. She finally managed to curb the coughing fit, clearing her throat and leaning back against the wall again.

It was helping, at least. All of the nausea and dizziness was practically gone already. Maybe the potion wasn't as old as she'd thought it was.

She glanced out of the opening; the sun was going down, almost completely gone behind the horizon. She sighed; she should probably go and socialize now, seeing as everyone was finishing up setting beds down.

Olivia pushed to her feet, stretching her arms out. Petra stood up as well. They moved over to the others. Jesse waved to them as they approached. Petra moved over to talk to her; for a moment, Olivia half panicked. But, she took a deep breath. She trusted Petra to not say a word. The redhead was one of the most trustworthy people she knew. So, she let it go.

"Olivia. Can I talk to you?" She turned to see Ellegaard, sitting cross-legged near the stairway.

"Um… Sure." She moved over, plopping down across from her.

It would be a long night.


	23. Fortress

Olivia couldn't say she felt much different the following morning. The spots hadn't spread at all, her hands didn't hurt almost at all, and any remaining symptoms hadn't gotten any worse. She felt a bit better, likely due to the sleep, but she couldn't say she felt one hundred percent.

They had gotten up before Burning, leaving the second it was safe. Now, they were walking through the forest North of the temple. Most of the others seemed refreshed by the rest; Reuben ran ahead excitedly, then turned and watched them as they approached.

Ellegaard stretched her arms above her head. "Mm, I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel great!" Her arms lowered. "I think a little sleep is just what I needed!"

"Heh, wish I felt as good as you sound." Petra made a small sighing noise. "I'm still feeling a little under the weather." Olivia shot a glance at the back of her head.

A low, rumbling noise echoed from behind them, and Olivia's heart leapt into her throat. She lurched to a stop, as did Axel and Lukas. Lukas turned around.

"Uh," his voice shook, "guys?" Jesse hesitated up ahead, turning around, then looking up. Olivia risked a glance back as well.

There was the Wither Storm, in all its horrifying glory. It had caught up, despite the precautions Jesse had taken.

"Holy snack burglars! You really weren't kidding!" Magnus threw his arms out. Petra started muttering something, but it was too quiet to make out.

"See? This is _exactly_ what I was afraid of!" Ellegaard snapped. "It's caught up with us!"

Something hissed nearby. Olivia glanced around; mobs were coming out of the trees, moving towards them.

"W-we can figure that out l-later, we've g-got to take care o-of these mobs!" Jesse eked out. Petra drew her sword in response, Lukas taking out his bow and notching an arrow. Axel clenched his fists determinedly. Olivia wasn't sure how to prepare, so she just readied herself to find a safe spot. Then, all at once, they all took off in different directions.

Olivia took off towards the trees, narrowly avoiding an arrow shot her way. She ducked behind the tree it was stuck in, eyeing the skeleton cautiously. Then, an idea struck her. She glanced at the arrow, ducking as another flew her way, then snatched it from the tree. She shifted it in her hand, and pulled back, sticking out her left hand for aim. Then, in a swift movement, she threw the arrow at the skeleton; it flew across the gap between them, sticking itself right in the skeleton's jaw.

"Hah!" Olivia couldn't help but cheer as the skeleton toppled over, puffing to smoke in a matter of seconds. She'd just killed a mob with only an arrow; who could say the same? After a second of excitement, she moved over to where the skeleton had been, snatching the arrow that had been left in its place. She had only just stood straight again, when something grabbed her arm. Olivia whipped around, only to be thrown right into a wrestling match with a zombie. She couldn't use the arrow, as she couldn't adjust it. After a moment of struggling, the zombie managed to knock her over.

Right as it did, a sword shot through its torso, and it was tossed to the side. Petra offered her a hand; Olivia was quick to take it, and she was pulled to her feet.

"Thanks." She nodded to the redhead, who nodded back.

"C-come on, w-we need to get out of here!" They turned as Jesse called to them and the others. Everyone started running, regrouping as they did. Axel was breathing hard, whether from exhaustion or fear, she couldn't tell.

"I'm getting _very_ tired of this Wither Storm!" Olivia glared back at the monster.

"Agreed!" Ellegaard was the only one to respond.

"Soren's isn't much further," Lukas called from just behind her. "We can make it!"

"I-it's gotta be just up ahead!" Jesse added. Olivia could see an indent in the mountain they were approaching. It looked kind of like a door. That had to be it.

The second they reached the mountain, they began hauling themselves up it. Reuben was the first to reach the top. Olivia was thankful that Petra had made her drink the potion the night before; she would _never_ have made this kind of climb otherwise. Now, it was only slightly more difficult than it should have been, rather than practically impossible.

She reached the top after Jesse, Lukas and Axel just behind her. Petra followed suit, Ellegaard and Magnus taking up the rear. Olivia turned towards the doors; they were lined with gold, though the gold looked red since the sky was covered by purple. She wasn't sure whether to expect it to open automatically or not.

Her question was answered when they started towards the doors. They opened when Jesse was about five feet from them, moving surprisingly quickly for how heavy they seemed.

The room inside was a sort of wide hexagon, blue walls lined with quartz. They all stepped inside, looking around in awe. There was a pathway across the room, with space underneath it. Across the room was a staircase of quartz stairs. Olivia glanced around in amazement.

"Soren really lived down here?" Lukas was quiet. "So far from… _anyone_."

"Enchanting, isn't it?" Ellegaard glanced at him. Right after she spoke, Petra suddenly started coughing, hesitating as she walked. Olivia almost stopped beside her, but she stopped coughing and continued before she could. Olivia shared a worried glance with Jesse, before moving up the stairs.

The top of the stairs lead to a dark room, the floor made up only of pillars, with the door on the other side of the room. Olivia cringed, making a face as she eyed the pillars.

"Yeah, and I'm _really_ not feeling those columns." Lukas was making a similar face. Magnus glanced at him, then took a running start and jumped to the first column.

"Aw, come on. It's fine! Look!" Magnus turned, waving at them. The rest of them glanced between each other nervously, before Axel ran forwards and jumped to the column with a cheer. Olivia paused a moment, then took a deep breath and ran after him.

Olivia landed in the center of the column, nearly losing her balance. She caught it as Lukas landed behind her, and she jumped to the next column. She picked up momentum, to the point where she was only managing to aim just before she had to jump again. The next thing she knew, she was on the other side, door already open as Magnus and Axel were already across. She paused as Petra landed on the platform, taking a second to slow down.

"Where'd Lukas go?" The redhead glanced at her as Ellegaard caught up. "And Jesse and Reuben, for that matter."

"You don't think they fell, do you?" Olivia glanced back. Sure enough, there was no sign of the trio Petra had mentioned.

"They might have…" Petra leaned over and looked down into the pit below. "Based on this and the stairs past the door… I think they can still meet up with us." She hesitated at the edge, then turned and moved towards the door. "C'mon. This place seems like it's really connected together. We'll find 'em." Olivia followed her as she started down the steps, albeit a bit hesitantly.

This stairway was a lot longer than the previous one; it took them several minutes to reach the bottom. At the bottom was a room filled with water, with a platform at the far end. The platform was old, with crumbling bits of ceiling and broken pillars lying here and there, visible even from where they stood. Magnus, Axel, and Ellegaard were all in the water already, making their way across. Olivia shrugged and hopped into the water, starting her journey over.

As she pulled herself onto the platform on the other side, Magnus whistled.

"Whew, he really should've picked different poses for these." He was looking at a giant statue up against the wall. "These make us look boring."

"He put effort into this place, Magnus." Ellegaard glared at him. "Show it some respect."

"Why? It's just a building." Magnus turned to face her.

"Soren still built it," she countered. Olivia shared a glance with Axel.

"Oh, be quiet! It's just a pointless building," Magnus snapped back. "That's all I'm saying! I mean, look at-!"

"Magnus, if an artist painted the inside of your mind, he'd have the most incredible desertscape paintings." Ellegaard folded her arms. Olivia was pretty sure Petra had tried hard to muffle a snort. She ended up coughing instead.

The two continued arguing, but Olivia tuned it out. She glanced behind her as the missing trio pulled themselves up onto the platform; she was pretty sure she could see faint purple flecks of some sort stuck to their clothes. When had they gotten there?

"That's _it_! I'm going!" Her attention was dragged back to Ellegaard as the inventor turned and stormed towards a red-lined hallway. "Once again, it falls to me to take care of _everything_. I'll find this 'Super TNT' myself!"

"Oh, no no no. You do _not_ get to be the one who walks away!" Magnus turned to the other hall behind him. "I'm going! See? I'm walking away too now!" His voice echoed from the hallway as he went deeper in. "Super TNT, here I come!"

Olivia made a face, turning to Jesse. "It's hard to pick 'glass half full' when they keep kicking the glass over." The other woman nodded slightly, trying to dust the weird purple particles off of her blue sleeves.

"And I thought they were doing so well." Lukas placed his hands on his hips, sarcasm hinting in his voice.

"Yeah, I wouldn't take it that far." Olivia folded her arms. "I wish they'd just get over it." There was a long pause, the group spreading out in the middle of the platform. "What are we supposed to do now? Where should we go?" Olivia glanced at Jesse, who glanced between the two hallways.

"We'll f-figure it out." She attempted one more time to dust the front of her dungarees off, and Olivia simply nodded and turned away.

The area was decently sized; Olivia couldn't say it was _big_ , but it sure felt like it. The ceiling was way above them, and the walls were textured just so to make the area feel both smaller and larger than it was. The statues were pretty cool; each one was embellished with a different color. The two on the far side of the room, where Ellegaard had stormed off, had one blue and one red, while the other side had a green and a white. They must be to represent each member of the Order.

Her gaze lowered to Petra, who was sitting on a piece of broken pillar, holding her left arm and staring at the far wall. Reuben was flopped over beside her, watching Jesse as she moved to talk to Lukas. Something seemed off about the redhead. She had noticed that her voice sounded somewhat raspy, and she kept rubbing the same spot on her left arm. She also kept breaking out in muffled coughs, and was even favoring the one arm a bit. For a minute, it didn't really make sense. Then, Olivia realized something.

It was rather similar to what she had been dealing with the past couple of days.

And if it was what she thought it was…

Guilt practically punched her in the throat right then. No wonder she had been so quick to deny the potion the night before; Petra wasn't one to admit that something was wrong. When in reality, she had needed it just as much as Olivia did.

It took her a second to realize why her chest was burning was because she wasn't breathing at the moment. She took a deep breath, putting a hand to her chest as she did. No, she could be jumping to conclusions. Petra had been separated from them for a while, anything could've happened.

Didn't stop her from worrying, though.

Especially since Petra stood up and tapped Jesse as the other started to go down the red hallway, the others gathering to follow.

"Petra?" Jesse sounded startled.

"I'm sorry," Petra mumbled. "I don't mean to worry you. I just need to talk to you about something alone."

Even if she didn't want to worry anyone, she sure was worrying Olivia.

"U-uh, let's split up." Jesse shot a somewhat apologetic glance between Olivia, Axel, and Lukas. Olivia gave a reluctant nod, turning with the two boys towards the other hall.

As they entered the green hallway, Lukas spoke up. "Anyone else getting a bad feeling from that?"

"Kinda." Olivia and Axel spoke at the same time. Axel grinned childishly. Olivia made a face.

"Jinx."

"Shut up."

Lukas swallowed a snort. "But, no, seriously. I have a bad feeling about that." He glanced at Olivia as they turned a corner. "For one, Jesse's never that assertive."

"Yeah, I think Jesse could tell something was up, too." Olivia could only shrug. "As bad as it may sound, we should probably respect Petra's privacy. Whatever it was she needed to talk about," Olivia had to bite down an additional comment, "we should stay out of it unless she tells us what it is."

"I guess." Axel shrugged. "Doesn't mean I'm not kinda worried, though."

"Yeah." Lukas nodded once in agreement.

Silence lapsed over them for a few moments. "So we never actually figured this out. What are we looking for here?" Axel turned and started walking backwards, glancing between them.

"Magnus, probably." Olivia shrugged again. "Or the Super TNT stuff. Or Soren…" She paused. "Yeah, we should've figured that out first."

"Kinda late now," Lukas said somewhat cynically. Olivia shot him a glance, and he shrugged.

"I guess we'll just see what we find first." Olivia paused. "Or what finds us, if it comes to that."

Axel turned back around.

The silence didn't last for more than a minute before some sort of noise began echoing off the walls. It was almost like footsteps; rapid muffled pattering seemed to surround them. Then, there was a familiar noise.

A squeal. One Reuben made when he was trying to get their attention. But Reuben had gone with Petra and Jesse. That meant…

"Guys!" They all halted in their tracks, turning around as Petra came skidding around the corner. Olivia blinked, somewhat startled by her almost frantic appearance. Reuben tore around the corner after the redhead, but Jesse was nowhere to be seen.

"Petra? What happened?" Lukas took a few steps towards the redhead as she managed to skid to a stop. "Where's Jesse.

"Creeper. There was a creeper." Uh oh. "It blew a hole in the floor and Jesse fell through." Oh no. Each time Petra added something on, Olivia got more and more scared. "She's okay, I think, but there's no way down to her."

"Oh no…" Olivia glanced at Axel, who returned it with a worried one of his own. "What do we do?"

"I don't know, find some way down to where she is?" Petra obviously didn't mean to sound as sarcastic as she did.

"There's probably something at the end of the hallway." Lukas glanced behind him.

"You guys go. I'm gonna go back and follow Jesse down. Then we can find a way to meet up." No one could object before Petra turned and took off again, Reuben quickly following with a couple of frantic squeals.

Lukas glanced between Olivia and Axel. "Well, that settles that. Let's get to it."

And with that, they took off down the hall.

* * *

 **AN: hoo boy. i need to get back on top of these chapters.**

 **rebekahtpe: ikr it's going so fast like holy shit.**

 **until next time!**


	24. Again

The end of the hallway took a minute to reach, but all that was there was a simple oak door. It threw them all for a loop, seeing as literally everything else so far was way fancier. But, after glancing between each other, Lukas pulled the door open. Olivia moved through first, Axel just behind her and Lukas shutting the door behind him.

The room they entered was incredibly dark; Olivia almost couldn't see her hand in front of her face. She could tell something was just in front of her, though, so she gently reached out to feel what it was. It was cold, almost icy cold to the touch. It was weird; it felt both familiar and not to her, almost soft but not quite there. It almost didn't feel solid.

"Does anyone else feel, like…" Axel's voice echoed. "Really cold?"

"Yeah, its freezing in here. And dark." Lukas sounded just behind her. "Is there anything in here? A light of any sort?"

"No, but… Whatever this thing is in front of us, it's not gonna help." Olivia dropped her hand.

"Wait, found a thing." Axel was further away now. "A lever, I think."

There was a click, and lights came flickering on.

There was near-frozen wool in front of her, dyed green. Olivia glanced briefly at her hand, and not finding any green on it, placed it on her hip. Glancing around, she saw several other blocks of similar state and color, a few a lime green rather than the deep green the one just in front of her was. She made a face, glancing at Lukas, who was just beside her.

"Any reason you know of as to why he'd be freezing dyed wool?" She lifted an eyebrow. He glanced at her, then shrugged, eyeing the wool.

"I think it helps preserve the color or something," he responded. "I guess it works, since he's doing so much of it." Olivia shrugged, glancing behind them. The floor along the walls had ice in it, explaining why the room was so cold. There was a block on each side of the wool she was in front of, and therefore, under her feet. How he kept it from melting, she had no clue. "Either way, I'd like to get out of his giant wool freezer."

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Olivia rubbed her arms rapidly to try and rid of the chill; at least Axel and Lukas had jackets, she had absolutely nothing to protect her arms from the temperature. "It's probably across the room like it always seems to be." Lukas nodded and moved past the wool, Olivia trailing after him.

The room was huge, to say the least. And it had a lot of wool in it. What Soren could possibly need this much wool for was beyond her, but she couldn't be bothered to care; she just wanted out of the cold.

Sure enough, at the other end of the room, a door matching the one they had entered through was waiting. Olivia opened it this time, allowing the other two to go through first, before following them and shutting the door.

The next room was lit, thankfully, and it was even bigger than the freezer. In fact, it was probably about as big as the area with all of the water. It was a gigantic library, three stories high and filled to the brim with countless books. And they were at the top of it.

"Wow. That is a _lot_ of books." Lukas was looking around in awe. Axel folded his arms.

"As long as we don't have to find one in it, then they're fine," he muttered. Olivia could agree with that; with how much they had been looking for books, she didn't want to resort to it here as well. She just shrugged.

"For now, I think we're just looking for an exit. Or a way down, whichever comes first." Olivia folded her hands under her arms. Lukas and Axel both nodded silently, and they started to walk around, only to hesitate just seconds later.

Some sort of metallic clanging was resonating from somewhere. And familiar voices. Olivia glanced around, trying to find the source of it. She couldn't see anything that indicated being the source, so she moved to the balcony to her right. She grabbed the rail, looking down at the first level of the library.

A bookcase was separated, and there was a visible room behind it. She could see a small pink shape just inside; Reuben was in there. After a second, a redhead with hair covered by a blue bandana fell back against the floor, before quickly standing again. Petra was in there too. So that probably meant Jesse was in there somewhere.

"Down there. Petra and Reuben are fighting with someone down there." Olivia glanced back at Lukas, who hurried over to see. Axel was already on her other side, narrowing his eyes at the gap. "We need to get down there."

"There's gotta be stairs somewhere." Lukas pushed off the balcony rail, hurrying away to search for just that. Olivia and Axel shared a glance, then followed suit.

It took a surprisingly short time to find the stairs down. It also took almost no time to descend them. So, in a matter of minutes, they were running towards the gap in the bookshelf. Olivia could see Jesse through it now; she and Petra were blocking off the exit, trying to keep whoever they were fighting inside.

"Jesse! Petra!" Lukas called out to them as the trio reached the bookcase, the blond sliding quickly through. Olivia followed him, moving forwards to stand next to Jesse.

"What's going on here?" She shot a glance at the shorter woman, who looked exhausted.

"W-we found Ivor." Olivia took notice of the alchemist right then, clutching his robe and glaring daggers at her. "We stopped him."

"Jesse did, anyways." Petra was holding her arm again.

"False." Ivor sneered, releasing his robe. "You've stopped nothing." Olivia narrowed his eyes at him. Jesse and Petra lifted their swords slightly as he took a couple of steps forwards. "A query. Have any of you felt the effects of a Splash Potion of Slowness?"

Oh, lord, this wouldn't be fun.

"What-" Jesse had only barely started talking when, in a single movement, Ivor produced a bottle of light blue liquid from his robe pocket, and tossed it at their feet. "-are you talking about…?"

Jesse's voice was distorted into a slow, deep one, and Olivia felt like she was moving through honey. Her movements were slowed down to the point where it almost seemed like it should take effort to do anything at all. She slowly started to turn as the others began shouting. Ivor, on the other hand, was walking at what seemed to her like a fast pace towards the door, since no one could stop him. He moved just past the bookshelves and turned to face them.

"Magnus and Ellegaard may think they can stop me, that they can destroy the Wither Storm," Ivor narrowed his eyes grimly, "but they are mistaken. And it will cost them their lives."

And with that, the bookshelves closed.

Everyone but Olivia had started running by then; it was kind of odd to see them do so in slow-motion. Jesse was in the front, forcing herself to a stop when she reached bookshelves. Lukas was slowing to a stop, and Petra had already stopped. Axel, however, tripped of nothing, and was sent slowly flying through the air with a just-as-slow yell.

"Watch… it…!" Lukas was calling to Jesse. "Get-" the potion wore off right then, and Olivia nearly fell over- "out of the way!"

Axel hit the floor with a harsh grunt, just barely missing Jesse, who spun around in surprise. For several seconds, no one said anything, before Jesse spoke up in a shaky voice. "Th-that was weird…"

"Everything-feels-really-fast-now!" The words tumbled from Lukas, and they all glanced at him. He blinked, then rubbed the back of his head. "I… said that really fast, didn't I?" Olivia couldn't help the amused grin that forced itself onto her face.

"Ugh… I felt all of that." Axel's voice was muffled by the floor.

"That was one hell of a landing, Axel." Olivia tried hard to force the amusement down as she addressed him. He grunted in response.

"He… Mostly used his face," Lukas commented. Olivia shot him a look and approached the bookcase.

"W-we need to find Soren," Jesse mumbled as she turned to eye the bookcase again.

"Yeah." Lukas moved to stand on Jesse's other side. Axel pushed himself off the floor, brushing off his front as he started to eye the bookcase as well. Jesse slid between Olivia and Axel, probably because they had crowded around her.

"I just can't figure out how he closed this." Olivia put a hand to her chin and the other to her elbow. "There weren't any pressure plates or tripwires, were there?"

"I think we should focus more on how it opens." Lukas glanced at her. She gave him another look, folding her arms.

"That's basically what I said."

"Guys." Axel bumped their shoulders with his hands. Lukas sighed.

"Sure."

"Maybe it was on some sort of timer?" Olivia offered. "There's no saying how long it had been open before we got here."

"I guess," Lukas folded his arms thoughtfully. Silence lapsed over them; Reuben crawled forwards and started sniffing at the base of the bookshelf.

The timer thing aside, Olivia found the bookshelf thing rather impressive. Having no evident way to open or close it was a really advanced kind of engineering, to her at least. Not that she had tried before.

That was a problem, though; with no way to open or close it, they were stuck. And if they were stuck, the Wither Storm would likely catch up, and they wouldn't be able to get away if it did. Olivia eyed where the bookshelves connected. No, no gap. How on earth were they going to get out of this.

Her thoughts drifted back to her hands. If she was stuck in a room with everyone, it was only a matter of time before someone else noticed. And if they did, there was a good chance one of them would demand to know why she hadn't said anything. How was she supposed to explain that? Besides, the potion was still helping a bit for the moment, so she really had no reason to say anything.

"Hold on," she turned to look at Axel as he gently pushed past her. "I have an idea." Olivia took a couple of steps back.

Lukas shared a glance with Jesse. "Okay?"

Axel shot a grin their way, then turned, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Magnus, help!"

This, of course, only got the response that they expected. Which was nothing. They stood silently for several seconds, before Olivia put her fingers against her forehead, the other hand holding her elbow as she lowered her head and sighed in annoyance.

"Okay… But I have another idea." Axel shifted, presumably turning back to the bookshelf.

Olivia pulled her hand away from her head, motioning to the bookshelf, and looked at him pointedly. "Is it calling for Ellegaard?"

He turned and gave her a sheepish glance. "... Not any-" his eyes suddenly widened- "more…"

As he trailed off, Olivia's expression went from irritated to confused. For a few seconds, no one said anything. Then, finally, Olivia refolded her arms. "What?"

"... Olivia, what's…" Axel looked more worried than she was pretty sure he'd ever been before. "What's wrong with your hands?"

Oh, of fucking course.

* * *

 **AN: late chapter is late i'm sorry about that.**

 **either way shit's about to get real**

 **until next time!**


	25. Out

Having Jesse upset over some event or object was one thing. Having Jesse upset at someone else was one thing.

Having Jesse upset over you was something else entirely.

Said woman was currently staring at her, eyes wide and hands clamped over her mouth. Everyone was staring at her with wide eyes, save for Petra. Olivia took a shaky step back, lowering her hand to grip her arm.

"What do you mean?" Her voice shook. Axel made a sort of coughing noise.

"What do I mean? Your hands are purple!" He reached forwards and grabbed her right hand; pain shot through it and she yanked it away, holding it to her chest with her left hand. Apparently the potion was wearing off a bit. "See?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jesse had only barely moved her hands enough to speak. "H-how did we not notice that?"

"What even is that?" Lukas eked out. Olivia glanced between them shakily, then caught Petra's eye. Petra very rigidly and quickly shook her head, then mouthed "later."

"I-" her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. "I-I'll explain l-later."

"No, you'll explain _now_." Axel folded his arms.

"W-we need to find a way out." Olivia took a steadying breath. "Once we're not in danger of being sucked into the Wither Storm, I'll explain." The silence that followed her statement was tense, lasting a long several seconds, before Axel sighed.

"Fine. But you aren't getting out of this. Once we're in a safe place-"

"I know, I know. And I _will_ explain. Just… Not yet." Olivia rubbed her arm. Axel made a face, but nodded and dropped his arms nonetheless.

"So how do we get out of here, anyways?" Lukas glanced at Jesse. "We have no way to open that bookshelf again. Magnus and Ellegaard are who-knows-where, so they sure can't help here…" Jesse tore her eyes from Olivia to look at the blond.

"W-well… We could try using…" She dug around in her pocket for a second, then retrieved an item. "This."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Flint and steel? Are you suggesting we burn the bookcase?"

Jesse stuffed the object in her pocket again. "That's not w-what I meant t-to pull out… Uh… This." She pulled the amulet from her pocket this time. The red and green gems were glowing, but that began to fade away not long after.

"They're moving further away," Olivia sighed in slight dismay. Lukas reached forwards.

"Here, let me see." As he took hold of the amulet, Jesse shot him a glance, then hesitantly agreed and let go. He began turning the amulet over in his hands, trying to find a way to bring the lights back. Nothing he tried in the first few seconds worked, though; after a moment of hesitation, he started to try something else, when the white gem suddenly flashed to life. Lukas dropped the amulet with a surprised yelp.

Jesse moved forwards and picked the amulet up, looking the gem over briefly. "I-I think that's Soren."

"Find where he's closest to." Petra nodded at the amulet. "If we find the area closest to him in here, we can probably dig or something and find our way out." Jesse nodded quietly, holding the amulet in front of her and glancing around the room.

The rest of them separated, moving to wait in different spots around the room. Olivia moved to stand beside a weird sort of stand made of fence posts. Two golden swords were leaned up against it, and a decorative staircase leading to the wall past it. She shifted around and settled herself on the steps.

Jesse was currently making her way from the far side of the room to the corner, where Lukas had propped himself up. The amulet brightened as she moved, then dimmed about three feet from the corner. Jesse backtracked, hesitating where the light was brightest, then glancing towards Olivia, then at Petra.

"Right here." She motioned to the floor. "He's b-below us."

Petra approached her slowly. "Do we dig, then?" Jesse glanced at the floor.

"I guess. I-I mean, what else can w-we do?" She pocketed the amulet. "We should probably get s-started."

"Who knows how far down that goes?" Lukas scratched the back of his head. Olivia pushed herself up and moved over to join the odd circle, standing between Axel and Jesse. "I'm just saying, we could be digging until we hit bedrock."

"I mean, i-it doesn't hurt to try?" Jesse offered, smiling slightly. "A-at this point, w-we don't h-have much to lose. W-we're already stuck."

"I…" Lukas hesitated. "Guess that's a way to look at it."

With that, Axel suddenly jumped forwards, shouting "Pai-gow!" as he punched the floor. That single hit broke away one of the stone blocks that made up the floor. Everyone glanced at him in surprise, and he shrugged.

"L-let's, uh…" Jesse looked back at the hole. "Let's get t-to work, then."

The rest of them started working on making a hole, but Olivia stepped back. There was no way she could do anything like with that potion wearing off. She could barely touch anything, let alone punch through stone. No one said anything about it, all she got was a worried glance from Jesse at one point. In fact, she was pretty sure that if she _had_ tried to help, the others would've stopped her.

Besides, everyone but Jesse stopped pretty quickly anyways.

Jesse was now deep in a three-by-three hole; Olivia cautiously peered down into it to see her crouching on a single block, looking down into a pitch-black hole. So there _was_ something down there.

"Are we cool?" Axel called down to her. Jesse glanced up at them.

"I-it's a hole," she called back. Axel blinked.

"Does that mean we're cool?"

"I-I'll find out." Jesse looked down again, using the amulet to light up underneath her.

Olivia didn't really see what had happened, but Jesse suddenly said something to quietly for her to here, and the amulet clattered against stone. This was followed almost immediately by squeaks and rapid flapping, which caused Jesse to yelp. A couple of stray bats flew up through the hole, and Olivia took a step back, as did the others.

It took a minute for the bats to disperse, and when they had, Jesse called up again, voice shaking slightly. "I-I think it's s-safe now." Olivia looked warily down the hole again as Jesse eased herself off of the block she was crouched on to the floor below.

Lukas was the first to begin jumping down, followed by Reuben. Olivia tentatively followed them, hopping from block to block in their odd little staircase. She could hear someone following her, but couldn't bring herself to stop until she reached the bottom.

She landed on stone stumbling a little as the momentum vanished. As she regained her bearings, there was a yelp above them, and Axel landed right on top of Lukas. She flinched, as did Jesse, and Axel was quick to stand up. As Lukas got to his feet, rubbing his torso with a hand, Petra hopped down. She apparently landed oddly, as she nearly toppled over.

"E-everyone okay?" Jesse was watching Petra as she spoke.

"Just slipped." Petra's response was immediate. Jesse took a second to look to Lukas, who nodded.

A horrid smell hit Olivia's nose, and her face scrunched up reflexively as she put a hand over her nose and mouth for a moment.

"Eugh, what is that awful smell?" She uncovered her mouth a bit, trying to wave away the smell with her other hand. Petra straightened and glanced back at her.

"Just… Breathe through your mouth." Olivia nodded, coughing a couple of times.

"Axel already does that." Lukas grinned. Axel glared at him.

"Hey…" Lukas had to visibly force down laughter. Petra rolled her eyes.

"Lead the way, Jesse." The redhead partially motioned to the rest of the tunnel. Jesse nodded once, holding the amulet ahead of her like a torch and making her way down the tunnel.

It, unsurprisingly, took no time for Axel to fall into step beside her. "So-"

"Still a bad time, Axel." She didn't need to glance at him to know what face he made. "We're in a dark tunnel that was filled with bats not five minutes ago. I don't really see this as a safe place to discuss it."

"... Fine." Axel looked away from her. She folded her arms, following Jesse down the walkway. The other's pace had slowed, growing tenser as she whispered something to Reuben.

She could see very dim light ahead of them. Jesse continued forwards at a hesitant pace. Olivia moved to walk beside her, stopping beside her as they reached an edge. She looked down.

Below them was a gigantic grinder, tunnels and walkways running down the spanse of the machine. The entire cavern was at least a hundred-meter drop from where they were, and there was a lot of space above them already.

Lukas let out a little yelp, and Axel stared down at the space with wide eyes. "Whoa…"

As Jesse pocketed the amulet, Olivia began to back away from the edge. "We have to get out of here."

"What?" Lukas glanced towards her.

"We have to get out of here!" Jesse glanced at her warily. Axel made a face.

"But we just got here," Axel pointed out. Olivia shook her head.

"You don't understand. This is a grinder!"

* * *

 **AN: oooh she got out of it this time**

 **also sorry again for the crazy late chapter, school's kinda stressing me out ;v;**

 **until next time!**


	26. Grinder

Now, everyone seemed about as scared as she was. They watched as a waterfall pushed three skeletons from a tunnel, cutting off as they started falling. When they hit the moving crusher at the bottom, they dissipated, and their items presumably fell through.

"They're meant to kill monsters," Olivia tried to explain. "Problem is, they don't know the difference between monsters and people." She tore her gaze from the opening again. The others were eyeing the edge warily.

"But… There should be a loot room down there, right?" Olivia shot a sideways glance at Axel, who shrugged. Another tube let out a stream of water, which pushed two zombies to the bottom. "Just saying. Not all bad."

As Jesse opened her mouth to respond, an odd hissing noise echoed through the tunnel behind them. Jesse and Petra were the first to look back, Petra already reaching for her sword. For a few seconds, no one said anything.

"Creeper!" The scrape of Petra's sword being retrieved echoed around them, and the redhead darted towards the now-visible green monsters. Jesse fumbled to retrieve her own sword, moving towards the creepers at a slower pace than Petra had moved.

As the two did their best to attack the monsters without them blowing up, Olivia glanced back at the grinder. There were walkways everywhere. Once the creepers were taken care of, they could probably find a way down to one. From there, getting down would be easy. There was probably some kind of door at the bottom, so they'd be able to move on.

"Watch out!" Her head snapped back to Petra, who was backing rapidly away from Jesse and a creeper, which was flashing rapidly. Jesse stumbled back only a step before the thing went off, sending her crashing to the floor about halfway between where she had been and the edge. A hole was in the side of the tube where the creeper had blown. Jesse scrambled up, peering into the hole and retrieving the amulet from her pocket. The white gem was glowing brightly.

"H-he's right down-" Jesse was cut off by the sound of rushing water. Olivia scrambled away from the edge, towards the newly-formed hole in the side of the tube, as water began rushing past them. The amulet escaped Jesse's grasp and flew out of the hole; Jesse moved to grab it, but Axel grabbed her by the torso to keep her from falling, while Petra grabbed the back of Axel's sweater to keep him from falling as well. The amulet slipped past Jesse's outstretched fingers and plummeted.

The water ceased flowing after a moment, and as soon as she had traction, Olivia moved back to the main opening at the end of the tube, as did Jesse, who peered down at a tube several meters below them.

"Was that-?" Olivia glanced at Jesse.

"The amulet." Jesse sighed. "Y-yes." With that, the brunette turned and moved back to the new hole, where everyone else was still gathered. Olivia followed her, slowly realizing what she was about to do.

"Wait, are you gonna jump?" Olivia stopped beside the other, looking down to the narrow platform below them. "You're gonna jump, aren't you?"

"T-trust me," Jesse shot her a shaky glance. "I'm t-terrified." Then, with a surprising lack of hesitation, Jesse hopped through the opening, rolling when she hit the walkway. Olivia blinked at her, startled as she started running down the path to the next tube, while Petra hopped down after her. She followed suit, as did Reuben. She nearly fell over when she landed, but regained her bearings quickly as the others followed behind her, and she took off after Jesse.

There were monsters of all kinds all over the place. Petra knocked a creeper off the side of the walkway, into the tube to their left and causing it to blow a hole in the skid to a stop up ahead, moving down a tiny staircase to the top of the same tube. She was quick to knock a creeper aside, and it blew a hole in the wall, where a second grinder system was visible behind the wave of cave spiders crawling through. Olivia took a second to wonder why Soren needed more than one grinder.

They all ran past Jesse, Petra taking a second to knock a cave spider away from her, and leapt down to the next pathway. Olivia didn't quite register that Axel had vanished in the process until she saw Jesse moving to knock a zombie away from him. She continued, moving down a longer stairway after the others, which lead to another platform on top of a tube. As the others leapt off of the side, an arrow aimed for her head barely missed her. It hit the wall just in front of her face, and she froze.

A skeleton was a few feet away from her, a second arrow aimed for her head. Axel ran past it just before it fired, so Olivia had a second to move to one side. The arrow hit the wall just above the first one, and she glanced back towards the stairs, where Jesse was just about to start towards them.

"Jesse!" The brunette spotted her, eyes widening slightly, before she turned towards the skeleton.

"H-hey!" The skeleton turned towards the other woman, taking aim.

Olivia glanced from the skeleton to Jesse. "Watch out!" The arrow was fired, and Jesse ducked down just in time to avoid an arrow between the eyes. Olivia risked a tiny sigh of relief, then turned to the skeleton. "Hey, bonehead! I'm talking to you!" The skeleton, which was aiming for Jesse again, turned on her, and she dodged another arrow. "Any time now, Jesse!"

Jesse was already darting towards the skeleton, who turned just in time to see the other's sword hit it's rib cage, sending it over the edge.

Olivia sighed in some form of relief, then followed Jesse down to the next walkway. The two of them ran after Axel, who was way ahead; Lukas was on a platform just beside them, cornered by two cave spiders. Jesse veered off to help him, while Olivia dodged a creeper and followed Axel down the steps.

The bottom of the stairs lead to yet another platform, where a couple of zombies were roaming around; the second they spotted Axel, they started towards them. Axel was quick to try and punch one of them, but before he could, a stream of water came rushing down from above them.

Olivia couldn't regain traction in time, and found herself dangling from the slippery platforms edge, grip quickly failing her. She managed a glimpse below her, spotting the walkway just under her before her hands slipped.

She hit the walkway feet-first, her legs turning to jelly for a moment just long enough to allow her to topple back, catching herself with her arms before her back could hit the pathway. As she was regaining her bearings, Axel's head appeared from the edge of the platform as the water slowed to a stop. She pushed to her feet, and his head vanished over the edge again. Olivia turned to her left and ran towards the next staircase, ducking under a skeleton's bow as she went. She skid to a stop, turning in the process, and hurrying onto the next platform.

Olivia used the little amount of time she could spare to catch her breath, coughing a couple of times as a result. Her chest felt tight, and her hands were beginning to ache again. It was probably the "withersickness", or whatever Petra had called it; either way, it sucked, and she wanted it to leave her alone.

She was snapped from her thoughts, by the sound of water being met with a scream, and looked over just in time to watch Jesse, Axel, and Reuben all fall off of the platform they had been on. She didn't get to react before water pushed her off after them.

Despite the lack of anything to land on, her arms shot out in front of her on instinct. Fear coursed through her body, but she couldn't produce any noise. Her chest grew tighter with every tunnel she fell past. Below her, she could see Jesse shoving something down, followed quickly by an explosion.

She had used a creeper to blow up the crushing mechanism. Jesse fell through to the water, with Reuben and Lukas just behind her. Petra hit the water next- now that she thought about it, she hadn't noticed the others at all in her panic- and Olivia barely sucked in a breath before she was engulfed in the cold liquid.

Olivia's eyes pried open, despite the fact that she was underwater. Jesse was pushing away a cave spider, which tumbled through the water and was sucked into a hole in the wall. Olivia realized then that there were holes everywhere; the bottom of the water pool was covered in them, with two on each wall. And they were all getting dangerously close to them.

As Petra disappeared down one of them, Olivia felt something tugging her down; she reached out to try and swim away from it, but to no avail. She was pulled into a fast-moving current, hitting wall after wall of the tiny tube with every turn. No matter what she tried to do to brace herself, she kept hitting the walls painfully.

It felt like ages before she fell down a waterfall into a loot room, hitting the floor rather harshly. The water pushed her back a bit, and she found herself sprawled out on her back, letting out the breath she had nearly lost in that wretched tube.

She lay there for a moment, trying to regain her bearings, before she sat herself up. Petra was to her right, Lukas a few feet away, pushing to his feet beside Jesse and Reuben. Jesse was lying on her stomach, head on her arms, while Reuben shook himself to rid of the water clinging to him. This jerked Jesse out of whatever sort of trance she was in, as she pushed up immediately, shaking her head a little. As Jesse pushed to her feet, she ran her hands down her face.

"Everyone okay?" Her voice was shaking slightly; Olivia pushed to her feet. "W-we all good?"

"Well, I'm definitely not thirsty anymore," Lukas mumbled.

Olivia coughed once. "We're fine."

As she spoke, another stream of water came from the ceiling, accompanied by a yelp. Axel fell to the ground, landing right on top of Lukas. Again.

"No, no, I'm totally fine." Axel glanced back at Jesse. Lukas let out a wheeze, and Axel glanced down, then shot to his feet. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry." Lukas didn't respond to him, trying to push himself up, but slipping and falling back to the floor. Axel simply turned and began talking to Jesse, picking up Reuben in the process.

Olivia moved over to Lukas, offering him a hand up. The blond glanced between her hand and her for a solid minute, before slowly taking hold of it. Ignoring the pins-and-needles feeling she got from the contact, she pulled him to his feet, to which he offered a nod of thanks. Olivia nodded back, folding her hands under her arms.

"Hold on hold on hold on!" She turned to look at Axel as he crouched close to the glass floor, peering through it. "This is where all the loot gets sorted, right?" Olivia moved to stand next to him.

"That's exactly what it is." Axel glanced at her, then at Jesse excitedly.

"See that? Things are starting to turn around." He hastily turned to look at the transportation tubes scattered around the room, accidentally shoving Jesse aside in the process. Jesse stumbled a little, then rubbed her shoulder with a look of mild annoyance.

Petra moved up to talk to Jesse now, but Olivia didn't bother to try and listen in. She glanced around, taking in the room around her. The floor they stood on was a walkway, with rounded walls on either side. Tracks ran every which way around and above them, and transportation tubes were all over, moving items to their respective places. One was in the floor, as Axel had discovered. One end of the room lead to a solid stone wall, while the other lead to some kind of room.

"I… I think it's working…" Olivia glanced to Lukas, who had the amulet now. "Looks like it's still working."

"A-any sign of Soren?" Jesse rubbed the back of her hand.

"I don't know yet." Lukas glanced at it. As if on cue, the white gem started glowing again, brighter than ever. "Wait… There he is!" Lukas turned and pointed it at the room, causing it to glow slightly brighter. "Soren's close by! He's gotta be… This way!" Right as he said that, the light went out completely. "Wh-?"

There was a rumbling noise above them; Olivia moved to stand next to Jesse. "Sounds like the grinder's backed up."

"With loot?" Axel moved over to join them. They all looked at the ceiling, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, a stream of water full of monsters started falling, threatening to catch them in it. Olivia gasped in surprised.

"Go go go go go!" Jesse squeaked, trying to push Lukas into a run. Olivia darted towards the room at the far end of the hall. But, they had all been too slow, and the water crashed down, knocking everyone over. Olivia stumbled at the loss of traction, falling to her knees, then immediately standing again. Glancing back, everyone else seemed to be trying to do the same.

Reuben hopped up, darting past the monsters with a terrified squeal. Olivia went to follow, only to be caught by a zombie. It grabbed her arms, and she struggled to keep it away from her face. Another zombie grabbed her arm, but it was only there a second before it was knocked over. Olivia, as a result, tripped on it, and managed to kick the other zombie away so she could stand up again. She darted towards the room, hesitating in the doorway to make sure the others were coming as well.

Petra was knocking a zombie away, while Jesse and Axel were taking care of a couple of cave spiders. Lukas was running towards her, followed quickly by Jesse and Axel. Olivia turned and ran into the next room, then into the room branching off to the right. There was a small staircase that Olivia followed Lukas up. At the top, surprisingly, was a portal, black with flickering stars swirling in it, while surrounded by yellow and turquoise blocks with blue-green orbs in the center surrounding it.

"Holy crap… An End portal?" Olivia breathed. Jesse peered at it for a second, interrupted by a tiny yelp from Lukas. They all glanced to the blond.

"Wait… wh.. look!" He sounded breathless as he pointed behind them. Glancing back, Olivia spotted Petra, trying to defend herself against three zombies and a skeleton. She killed one of the zombies, but she was quickly being overpowered. Jesse turned and hurried down the steps to help.

The brunette knocked a zombie away, running her sword through another. She moved around Petra, ducking under an arrow, before slamming her sword into the skeleton. Axel cheered in excitement, while Lukas clapped. Jesse said something, but they were too far away to hear it.

Jesse pulled Petra to her feet, then pulled her towards the portal. "W-we need to go." She sounded just as breathless as the rest of them. She glanced back as more mobs became visible. "Jump!"

Olivia turned just in time to see Jesse vanish into the portal. Lukas hesitated a second, then jumped in after her. Olivia shared a glance with Axel, then with Petra. Then, after ducking under an arrow, jumped through the portal.


	27. Explain

The End portal felt nothing like the Nether portal had. This one felt almost like tons of people poking her repeatedly, almost to the harshness that would cause pain. At the same time, it felt like people grabbing her and pulling. The two feelings had no rhythm to them, so it just felt overly weird, and she hated it.

She came out of the portal up in the air rather than on the ground, and there was no portal behind her. The ground looked odd; it looked almost spongy, but felt firm beneath her. Jesse and Lukas were already there, and Reuben was pushing off of his stomach nearby. Petra landed on Olivia's other side.

The End was an eerie place, in a sense. The "sky" was dark and covered in dim stars with no pattern, and the ground was no bigger than Redstonia. It was an island in the middle of nothing; pillars of obsidian stretched above them, crumbling in places. Chunks of these towers lay aimlessly around their bases. Odd black particles danced around them.

After glancing between her friends, she noted one was missing again. "Where's Axel? He was right behind me." Petra shrugged. As if her question triggered it, a familiar yelp sounded above them, and the next thing they knew, Lukas was flattened once again by Axel falling from the sky.

The amulet rolled to Jesse's feet, and the brunette picked it up. "Hah! See? Told you I'd pay you back!" Axel snickered, then began pushing himself up.

Lukas lightly hit Axel's back as the other stood up, pushing himself into a sitting position with his other hand. "Get off," Lukas grunted, drawing out the "off." Then, suddenly, he froze for a moment, before his head snapped down and his hands covered his eyes. "Oh, jeez…" His voice cracked. Olivia blinked and shared a glance with Jesse. "Oh man…" Was he crying? "Wh- I-I… Uh…" His voice cracked with every word.

"... I think he's crying," Axel muttered to Jesse. He opened his mouth to continue, but Lukas' hands snapped down and he turned to glare at Axel, face dry.

"What? No, I'm not crying, just- look!" He motioned wildly in front of him, then covered his eyes again with one hand, while pushing slowly to his feet with the other. Olivia blinked, somewhat startled, then followed his motion. Her gaze snapped back to Lukas.

There were Endermen. There were a _lot_ of Endermen.

Jesse had done the same thing she had. She shared a brief, wavering glance with Olivia as an Enderman teleported behind her. " _Hide_." Her voice barely came out as a whisper. They all covered the tops of their eyes and looked to the ground ahead of them, and darted to the side. They all ducked between a pillar and a chunk of obsidian, Jesse and Lukas creeping forwards to peer past the pillar.

"So, uh… W-what do we call that?" Lukas spared a brief glance towards Jesse. "A… 'herd' of Endermen?" His gaze snapped back to the creatures ahead of them. "A-a 'flock' of Endermen? A 'swarm'?" Jesse didn't respond, peering cautiously out at the monsters.

Olivia glanced briefly at the blond. "We might want to save the grammar lessons until later," she whispered. "Which way are we headed, Jesse?" Jesse glanced back at her, then retrieved the amulet from her pocket. The white gem was glowing again, but it quickly fizzled out. Jesse shook the amulet a couple of times, then sent a nervous glance towards Olivia.

"You said it didn't work in the Nether." Petra leaned forwards to look at it a little closer. "Guess it doesn't work in the End, either."

A sharp laugh cut off any response Jesse may have had. Lukas stood straight, calming his own laughter with a small sigh. "Hoo, man." Olivia shared a glance with Petra. "So we were trapped, and now we're lost." Jesse slowly and tensely began putting the amulet back in her pocket. "So we went from… a death machine that almost drowns us, and we land here. In the End." He laughed again. "And that's the right name for it, since now, incredibly, we don't even know where we're _going_!" Jesse flinched back, hands raising to her chest.

"That's enough, Lukas." Petra shot the blond a warning look, and he sighed.

"Look. I know you're trying, but… We may never find this guy." Lukas folded his arms.

"There he is."

All gazes turned to Axel, then followed his motion to an area ahead of them. There was a long staircase, spiraling upwards to some sort of complex. About halfway up the steps was a figure, moving quickly towards the complex.

"Did that… Did that really just happen?" Lukas was wide-eyed. "I can't believe that just happened."

"D-do we follow him?" Jesse glanced back at Petra.

"Everyone follow me." Petra, instead of answering Jesse, moved to the front of the group. "I'll handle the Endermen. Just follow my lead, and I'll-" she was cut off by a couple of coughs. "I'll protect you."

The rest of them shared a similar look of concern. "Um, no offence, but I don't think that's a good idea," Olivia said slowly. The redhead glanced back at her, gaze hard.

"Sh-she's right." Jesse lifted a hand slightly. Lukas and Axel nodded in silent agreement. Petra glanced between them briefly, then sighed.

"Fine."

For a few seconds, no one said anything. Petra moved back to her place behind Lukas.

"You know what? I'll just go." The blond stepped forwards, standing where Petra had. He stopped, glancing slightly back at Jesse. "Give me a chance."

"A-are you sure?" Jesse spoke barely above a whisper. Lukas nodded once, albeit a little hesitantly. Jesse went silent for a moment. "... O-okay." She turned to glance between the others. "L-let's follow Lukas. A-and let's pick up th-the pace, okay?" They all nodded, Lukas, smiling slightly, before he covered his eyes with a hand, ducking his head down as he started forwards. Jesse copied him, leaning down to rest a hand on Reuben's head briefly, then covered the tops of her eyes with her hands and followed slowly after him. Olivia followed after her.

Having Endermen on every side was something Olivia never wanted to experience initially, and it was something she never wanted to experience again. Deadly creatures over three blocks tall on every side of her, most likely watching her as she followed Jesse and Lukas towards the odd staircase. She did her best not to flinch as an Enderman teleported near her, letting out an odd croaking noise.

The relief of getting out of the crowd of Endermen was bordering on overwhelming.

Olivia let out a long, shaky sigh. Petra and Axel were just behind her, Jesse and Lukas risking glances back at them. Lukas looked as relieved as Olivia felt, as did Jesse.

"Nice job, Lukas." Olivia glanced at the redhead briefly, then back at Lukas with a breathless nod of agreement. Lukas rubbed the back of his head somewhat sheepishly.

"Thanks." He turned his gaze to Jesse. "And thank you, Jesse. Thanks for giving me a shot." Jesse gave a small smile and a nod. Then, quietly, she started towards the steps, everyone else following close behind.

In the platform at the top of the stairs was what looked like a sort of fountain made of bedrock. When they got up to the platform, Olivia realized it was the portal back to the Overworld; there was the same black light with stars swirling in it. She and Jesse shared a brief glance, then moved up the stairs.

The staircase ahead of them stretched up quite a ways. There was no way they could all make it to the top without stopping at least once. Olivia took a deep breath, continuing to make her way up the steps.

A journey up a set of stairs never seemed like a very interesting adventure. And as she suspected, it really wasn't. It went a lot faster than she thought it would, though; before she knew it, she was sitting on a platform where the stairs turned, just under their destination. Axel and Reuben were there as well, looking just as tired as she felt. Jesse, Lukas, and Petra had all fallen behind, not that she could blame them. She was leaning on her legs, as leaning anywhere else was practically out of the question.

She glanced briefly at her left hand, clenching her fist slowly. It took more effort to close her hand than she had anticipated, and a slight flash of panic shot through her chest when she realized it could only barely close all the way. She relaxed her grip, letting out a small sigh.

Reuben leaned over, nosing her hand for a couple of seconds, then glanced up at her. She gently pat the top of his head. "Not yet."

Lukas appeared from the steps below them, followed closely by Jesse, then by Petra. Of the three of them, Petra seemed more exhausted. Olivia glanced very briefly at her, somewhat concernedly, then turned to look to Jesse, who had stopped at the edge of the stairs to take a quick breather.

"One day, I hope I love something as much as Soren seems to love stairs." Axel pushed to his feet, though he still sounded exhausted. Olivia pushed herself up as well.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to fall back down them, that's for sure." Lukas cringed as he glanced at the steps behind him.

"You and me both." Petra made a face. Jesse seemed to ignore the comments, though, as she glanced towards the next set of steps.

"There's a-a ladder." She motioned to the top, and Olivia followed the motion to the stairs. Sure enough, there was a ladder at the top, leading up into the structure.

"Better not be a long one," Axel muttered. Jesse started up the steps to the ladder, Olivia following close behind. The top of the stairs had a semi-flat platform, sloping upwards to the ladder. The wall the ladder was attached to was made of obsidian, though when she followed it up, the obsidian changed to some sort of green material, and a trap door similar to the one they had in the treehouse was at the top. Luckily, the ladder wasn't too long.

"After you." Petra looked at Jesse, motioning to the ladder. Jesse swallowed, and grabbed the rungs, slowly making her way up.

"Good luck, dude." Axel folded his arms. Jesse paused to shoot a glance over her shoulder, then continued upwards. Sure enough, there was soon the squeak of the trap door being opened, and Jesse pulled herself up into wherever the ladder lead to. There was a few seconds of silence after Jesse vanished.

"What do you see?" Lukas called up.

"Please don't say more stairs…" Petra cringed slightly at the thought. Jesse didn't respond for a second.

"I-I think I must be… S-seeing things." Jesse's voice was slightly muffled. "I-it's like a-a whole other world up h-here!" Lukas glanced at Petra, then started up the ladder. Olivia followed him up, allowing him to pull himself into the structure and step away before doing the same.

"It's so bright…" Lukas put a hand over his eyes. Olivia stood straight, taking in her surroundings.

It was just like Jesse had said. The inside of the structure seemed like it was just another section of the Overworld. A thin stream ran through, a waterfall leading it down between two hills. There was a fountain across the area, and trees scattered all over. Odd-looking bushes were scattered around as well, as were red mushrooms. The sky was obviously fake, as were the flat "mountains" at the far side of the area, and the "sun."

Jesse was already at the bottom of the hill they stood on, making her way to the top of the other. Olivia began following her, as did Lukas. Petra and Reuben were close behind her, and Axel was pulling himself off of the ladder. There was a few moments of silence, before it was interrupted by Axel tumbling down the hill with a yell, running into Lukas and knocking him down the rest of the way. The blond was, once again, flattened by the larger male. Olivia flinched.

"That's my body, Axel." Lukas sounded winded, as she would have suspected. "My broken, battered body."

"The ground's almost… Squishy." Olivia leaned down to feel the grass beneath her. "Like carpet."

"Looks funny, too." Axel's voice didn't echo like she thought it would from the shallow ravine. "Hey, I can see again."

"Glad to hear it," Lukas wheezed. "Now can you please get _off_ me?"

"Sorry, dude." Axel pushed himself up, and Lukas pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his torso as he started up the other hill. Olivia stood straight.

"What in the-" Jesse's voice caught her attention, and she made her way quickly up to the brunette. "I-it's made of wool!" Olivia reached the top as Jesse turned towards the rest of the area. "Th-the trees, the grass… I-it's all wool." Lukas picked up a "bush" and eyed it with growing annoyance.

"So you're telling me that we've been resting all our hopes on this guy, and he's been building some… Artificial Happyland?" Lukas' voice rose as he spoke; Jesse had to visibly force down a flinch. They all ended up in a circle, as Lukas approached them and stood between Jesse and Axel.

"Well," Axel shrugged, "it's real wool."

"It's real evidence that Soren is whacked," Lukas deadpanned. No one responded to this. "What a waste… We came here for _nothing_!" Lukas threw the green wool at the floor and stormed off towards a nearby bridge. "What are we even supposed to _do_ now?" Jesse flinched, but didn't respond. "Just look around! If the greatest builder of all time has spent years working on _this_ ," Lukas turned towards them again, briefly, "what are the chances he's even gonna have that bomb, huh?!" He turned back around, storming off again. "I've had enough crazy for one day."

A tense silence fell over the group; Axel and Petra simply watched the blond storm off, while Jesse looked down at the piece of wool he had thrown, rubbing her arms. Reuben turned and glanced at her worriedly, then shot a glare after Lukas.

"What's his problem?" Petra glanced between Jesse and Olivia. "He seems pretty upset." Olivia just shrugged.

"Maybe all the stuff that's happened so far is getting to him. I don't know." Olivia folded her hands under her arms.

"That reminds me," Axel folded his arms, looking to Olivia. "You still need to tell us what's up with your hands." Olivia flinched as Jesse and Reuben both looked to her. Petra half folded her arms. There was a silence again, eyes all on Olivia, before she sighed.

"Right. That." Olivia pulled her hands from their hiding place, swallowing down the anxiety that hit when she realized her hands were now completely covered by the purple, and the spots were on her forearms now. "It's uh… Withersickness."

"What's that?" Axel's tone took on concern. Petra glanced at Olivia, who shrugged slightly, then looked back at Axel.

"It's a kind of sickness you can get from too much contact from Wither Skeletons." Petra glanced at Olivia's hands. "Or, in this case, enough exposure to the Wither Storm."

"... Oh." Jesse barely spoke above a whisper. "... Why didn't you tell us?"

Guilt ripped through Olivia's chest. "I… I didn't want to worry anyone. Especially since I didn't know what it was until last night." Axel and Jesse didn't say anything. Silence was over them like a blanket for several moments. Olivia held her arms, looking down at her feet.

"If it helps," Petra's voice broke the silence, finally, "she drank that healing potion that was in the enchantment room. It seemed like that helped." Olivia nodded. Neither of the others said anything. Then, without any warning, Jesse grabbed her in a hug. Olivia tensed involuntarily. Axel was quick to pull them both into a hug, and Olivia tensed further for a moment, then dropped her head against Axel's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Jesse's grip tightened.

"Thank you for telling us."

* * *

 **AN: this is so late i'm so sorry**

 **secret's out and now they know... wonder if that makes things any better**

 **until next time!**


	28. Endermen

The wool world got surprisingly boring when it was familiar. And considering how small it actually was, that didn't take long to become the case. The only real interesting part of it was that there were levers hidden around, which Jesse was working on. Olivia had practically memorized every aspect of the area, and was now leaning against a "tree" near the wall, watching Axel count how many clouds Soren had put on the far wall. It wasn't actually entertaining, but it was pretty much the only thing she could be doing.

Her gaze drifted away from him and around at the others. Jesse and Lukas were talking quietly on the far side of the fountain, Reuben was just in front of her, eyeing a "pig" made of two pink wool blocks, and Petra was still across the river, leaning against a tree and watching the water. There was a lever barely visible behind the redhead, but it was flipped, so Jesse had already gotten it.

"Thought you could trick me, huh, fake sun?" Olivia's attention flicked back to Axel, who was peering at a glowstone "sun" attached to the ceiling. Jesse was walking up to them as he spoke. "Well it's not gonna work." A pause. "Hey Jesse."

"Hey, y-you guys holding up okay?" Jesse tried a mild smile. Though she was referring to both of them, Olivia could tell she meant her more than she did both. She swallowed a cough.

"Yeah, I think so." Olivia folded her hands under her arms, returning the smile. Jesse's smile widened ever so slightly, before she glanced to Axel, who nodded with a shrug. "How are you doing?"

"Alright, I-I guess." Jesse gave a small shrug. "I'm j-just trying to find this l-last lever… Y-you didn't happen to see it, d-did you?" Olivia shook her head, swallowing down another cough.

"Nope." Axel shook his head. "Sorry."

Olivia cleared her throat. "Is there anywhere you haven't really checked yet?" Jesse blinked, then glanced around.

"Um… I-I don't think…" She trailed off, catching sight of something near the "mountains" to her right. She didn't bother to finish what she had been saying before turning and hurrying towards one of the trees across the little clearing. Olivia shared a confused glance with Axel, then returned to watching Jesse as the other woman pushed on the far side of the tree trunk. Something clicked; she must have found the last lever.

Jesse moved back towards them and hit a button on the wall. Almost instantly, a section of the sky wall lowered away, revealing a dimly-lit entranceway. It didn't seem all that welcoming.

"Oh." Jesse glanced over at them. "I, uh… I-I found Soren's way out, I-I think." Olivia pushed herself carefully off of the tree and moved to look at the entrance. Axel followed her over, and Lukas and Petra approached from where they had been standing.

"Hey, nice work, Jesse." Lukas scanned the entrance with a small smile. "That's awesome." Jesse shot a tiny smile his way. Olivia peered at the entranceway, then slowly began to move through to the dimly lit hall. The others were close behind.

The inside was decorated something like a miniature mansion; right away, there was a fountain right in the center of the hall. It was somewhat difficult to see the exact decorations, as the light levels were so low, but Olivia could see reds and grays mixed with wood in the walls.

She wasn't quite sure what about that had clicked in her mind, but she understood why Soren had the wool freezer now.

"We'll search the rest of the house." She glanced at Petra, who continued as she started past the fountain. "Hopefully we'll find him before he finds us." Olivia's eyes narrowed ever so slightly; she wasn't sure she liked the way that was worded.

Olivia veered off towards a side hall, which really only contained a table and two doors. Some odd noise was sounding through one of the doors, too muffled for her to figure out what it was. Reuben trotted past her to the further door, before pressing his ear against it for a moment, then turning and snorting at her. Olivia moved to the door, and leaned close to it. The noise morphed into music, louder than it had been before. She stepped over and leaned against the wall, listening cautiously.

The music was, by her standards, pretty impressive. Not that she knew much about music; it wasn't a common thing growing up. In fact, the only time she ever got to listen to any was at EnderCon, since they had a DJ there. So, considering what she'd heard, this was pretty nice.

Jesse approached a few moments later, hesitating near the table for a second, then moving close to the door and leaning against it to hear. For a moment, she was silent. Then, she glanced at Olivia.

"The music's definitely louder…" She glanced at Olivia. "Should w-we investigate?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Olivia responded. Jesse nodded, turning and taking hold of the doorknob. She slowly pulled the door open, just wide enough that they could slide through, then did just that. Reuben edged behind Olivia as she followed Jesse into the room, the music much louder than it had been. All three of them were tense.

The room they entered had a sort of indoor garden just in front of them, though the entrance was to the right side of the room. There was a second garden on the other end of the room, and one parallel to them on the opposite side. There was a balcony over the far end of the room, and purple glass taking up most of the far wall. Though, she couldn't tell where the music was coming from.

A muffled voice suddenly sounded over the music, saying something she couldn't quite catch. She blinked, sharing a startled glance with Jesse. "Is that…?"

"I-I think…!" Jesse glanced towards the center of the room, then hastily moved towards the source of the noise. Olivia followed close behind.

There was a jukebox against the wall, with four item frames above it, each containing a disk. The jukebox itself was producing the music, as well as the talking. "What the-?"

"I-it's a recording?" Jesse let her tense stance melt away, looking at the jukebox with a mix of disappointment and thoughtfulness in her gaze. The recording continued.

"... hope I'm not imagining things. Goodness knows, it's happened before." The voice on the recording began laughing oddly.

"After all that, he's not even here?" Olivia sighed, folding her arms.

"Ahah, I'd better… Eat something…" The recording continued.

"We came all this way, and for what?" Olivia huffed, resulting in a couple of coughs. "We're no closer to Soren than before."

"W-well, the record hopefully didn't t-turn on by itself…" Jesse glanced at her, trying a small smile. Olivia blinked, mulling over her words for a moment.

"... Good point." She glanced back at the jukebox. "I guess he _really_ likes the sound of his own voice, then." Jesse shrugged, glancing at the jukebox.

"M-maybe if we can figure out what he's s-saying, we'll know where t-to look f-for him?" Jesse watched the jukebox, folding her arms. Olivia watched it for a moment, then glanced around as she listened.

"I've worked up a simple set of building instructions to… 'inspire' them." Reuben made a noise. Olivia watched the window. "I will disguise myself and hide among them in order to observe them more closely."

Olivia realized there was something moving on the other side of the glass. She peered through at it, taking a good thirty seconds to realize what it was that was moving, and immediately tensed.

"'Hide among them'...? H-hide among who?" Jesse put a hand to her chin. Olivia tried to speak up, but all that came out was a terrified squeak. She cleared her throat as Jesse glanced her way.

"D-do you think he was talking about _them_?" Olivia motioned shakily to the window. Jesse followed the movement.

Outside of the window, at least what was visible to them, were _hundreds_ of Endermen. And Olivia would bet money that there were more.

"Then again," Olivia glanced at the other woman, "everything _else_ about this guy has been pointing to crazy…"

"I-I guess… I guess everyone needs h-hobbies…" Jesse glanced warily at the window. "Even if they a-are really, really, _really_ d-dangerous…" She glanced back at the engineer. "D-do you think he's actually t-training Endermen to build s-stuff?"

"I think _he_ thinks he's training Endermen to build stuff." The engineer folded her arms. Jesse watched her a moment, then shot a final glance towards the window.

"W-we should look around. See wh-what we can find." Olivia nodded, and the three of them spread out. Olivia found a double chest across from the jukebox, and moved to examine it. Jesse and Reuben had moved to the far side of the room.

The chest didn't have anything of interest in it; a couple of rarer items, sure, but nothing they needed. Though it was pretty interesting to see golden apples.

She wasn't sure what that had reminded her, but she suddenly remembered items in her pockets. Her hands dug through, locating the small mesh bags. She pulled the little bags out, eyeing them carefully. The necklaces were still intact, thankfully, and she pocketed one of the bags, bouncing the other in her hand thoughtfully.

"H-hey, Olivia." She glanced up to where Jesse stood at the far end of the room. The other motioned to her, and Olivia moved over to her. She was standing next to some sort of black bodysuit, Reuben beside her, eyeing the suit warily. "Ch-check this out."

"Is that…" Olivia peered at it. "Is that an Enderman suit?" Jesse nodded slowly. "Either Soren has a really unique fashion sense, or…" Realization hit her as Jesse added on.

"Th-there's two stands, a-and one of the suits is m-missing." Jesse glanced at her. "Soren must be o-out there."

"We don't have time to wait for him to come back. How are we supposed to get to him?" Olivia watched Jesse glance at the suit.

"There's still a suit." Jesse's voice was so quiet that Olivia almost couldn't understand her. Her eyes widened.

"Are you thinking of…?" Jesse's gaze snapped to her, as if realizing what she had said. "Are you sure?"

Jesse could only shrug and shake her head. "Of course not. W-would you be?" Jesse swallowed. "... We can't wait f-for him."

"I know…" Olivia eyed the suit warily, then dropped her gaze to the necklace in her hand. She then looked up at Jesse again; the other was warily sizing up the suit, hand on her other arm. A sigh escaped her. "Then here." Her hand extended, and Jesse's attention was torn from the suit. She looked at Olivia, then at the bag in her hand.

"Wh-what?" Jesse's gaze was back on her.

"I meant to give this to you at EnderCon, but didn't get the chance." Olivia half shrugged. "At this point, I guess it could be like a good luck charm or something." Jesse blinked, then looked back at the necklace, hesitating a few seconds to take it. Olivia was pretty sure she consciously avoided touching her hand as she took it. Jesse shot a final glance at Olivia, then looked down and opened the bag, pulling the necklace out.

There were a good several seconds of silence before Jesse spoke again. "You found it." Olivia tried to hide the slight confusion behind a smile. "I-I thought these weren't sold this year."

"I mean…" Olivia rubbed the back of her neck. "Maybe by the time you got there they were gone?"

"I-I guess…" Jesse let out a tiny laugh, grin pushing onto her face. "I just… Thank you." Honestly, this was the happiest that Jesse had looked since they had finished their build at the competition. And that felt like forever ago.

Jesse moved her hands around the back of her neck, clasping the necklace chain shut. One hand dropped to her side while the other found the amulet charm, and for a moment, her smile didn't waver. Then, it fell. "D-did you get anything for y-yourself at EnderCon?"

"Well," Olivia reached into her pocket for the other necklace, "I wound up with two of those, so… That counts, I guess."

"Ah." Jesse nodded slowly, then returned her gaze to the was silent for a moment. "... I don't want to put that on."

"We could find another way to get his attention?" Olivia offered. Jesse shook her head.

"We- we're wasting enough t-time as it is." As much as she didn't want her to go out there, at this point, there wasn't time to think of another plan. She was right; they had wasted so much time already, and there was no telling how much time they had until the world above was completely destroyed.

"... Let's at least get some kind of plan for what you'll do to find him." Olivia folded her arms. "You can't just walk up to every Enderman and ask if it's Soren. Not that I'd recommend that anyways."

"Soren said h-he had instructions, right?" Jesse's gaze lit up thoughtfully. "I-if we found those, I-I could pretend t-to be an Enderman a-and build what he wanted them t-to." Olivia nodded slowly.

"Yeah, that could work…" Her brow furrowed. "But are we sure he even wrote them down? What if he was going to just… Tell them somehow?"

"He p-probably has them somewhere." Jesse glanced around. She suddenly moved past Olivia to a different chest, pulling it open and looking inside.

"Find them?" Olivia moved to look over Jesse's shoulder as the other dug around.

Jesse hummed. "Uh…" There was a rustling of paper. "I-I think…?" She pulled a blueprint from the chest, Straightening the slightly crumpled paper. The design was simple enough; an L-shape with a single block in the opposite corner of the three-by-three square. "I-it's so… Simple."

"Well, gotta start somewhere when teaching an Enderman how to build." Olivia made a face. "That's a start, but… Do we even have anything to build that with?"

"It says… I-it needs six clay blocks. Where a-are we gonna get clay b-blocks?" Jesse glanced at Olivia, then around the room. Olivia glanced around as well.

"There are probably some around. He wouldn't have the instructions without the materials." She motioned to a pale pink block on a nearby shelf. Jesse eyed it carefully, then pulled it from the shelf. Reuben made some soft snorting noise, butting his head against Jesse's leg and glancing towards a set of metal doors across the room. Jesse followed the movement.

"I-I guess he does h-have them all here." Olivia followed her gaze to another pink block across the room.

"That makes it easier." She folded her arms. "At least it's not all out there already. You can just gather it up and do your thing, rather than deal with the Endermen." Jesse nodded slowly. "Let's see how many there are in here."

They each moved to different areas of the room. Jesse went to gather the one that Reuben had pointed out, then turned and climbed up to the balcony. Reuben sniffed around the doors cautiously. Olivia moved to look by the garden tables, quickly finding one in the corner. Reuben gave a little snort, catching her attention, and drawing it to one next to the garden table at the far end of the room. She moved to grab the one beside her, then approached the other and picked it up as well. Jesse was quick to clamber back down the ladder.

"There was one u-up there." Jesse turned away from the ladder.

"There were two more down here. I think that's all of them." Olivia held out the two pink blocks, which Jesse quickly took.

"Th-this is only five, though. W-we need six." Jesse shot a final glance around, hesitating as her eyes caught the purple window. She approached it, pulling herself up to look through it for a moment, winding up on her tiptoes. "... A-and I found the last one." Olivia moved to stand next to her, peering out the window.

One of the nearby Endermen had a slightly pink block pinned between its hands.

Shit.

"Please tell me there are more." Olivia's voice took on a sort of whine. Jesse just shrugged, dropping back to her flat-footed stance. "You can't take a block from an Enderman; just touching that would be a death wish." Olivia stepped away from the window, coughing a couple of times. Jesse didn't really respond to that either, simply moving towards the suit again. The brunette let out a long, shaky sigh, then reached forwards and pulled the suit from the stand.

Putting the thing on took almost no time, considering it only had two parts to it. Jesse fit in the thing, surprisingly- it looked a lot bigger on the stand- and was quick to pull the gloves and helmet on. She looked ridiculous, but Olivia wasn't about to say so. She turned and looked out at the many endermen on the other side of the glass, watching them cautiously for a moment. Jesse did too, but not for as long.

"O-okay." Olivia turned her gaze back to Jesse as the other spoke up. "I'm gonna go out there."

Olivia nodded. "Try not to die, okay? I'd hate to have to watch that..." She glanced outside again. "From behind this protective glass."

"Thanks for the... vote o-of confidence." Jesse turned, starting towards the doors with Reuben beside her. Olivia hesitated, then quickly reached forwards, grabbing hold of Jesse's hand. The other woman flinched in surprise, turning to glance back at her.

"Just..." She hesitated, unsure whether to let go and change her mind or make something up. She hadn't actually had anything to say; her hand just shot out and grabbed her's, despite the pain it ultimately caused. "Just... Come back alive, okay? I mean it."

Jesse blinked at her, staring for several seconds. Then, she smiled behind her helmet. "Of course."

Olivia released her hand and took a step back. Jesse hesitated, holding her smile for a second longer, then turning and opening the doors to the outside. Reuben trotted after her as she exited the safety of the lab, though his trot slowed to something of a crawl the second his hooves met the End floor. Olivia placed a hand on the lever to close the doors, but hesitated as Jesse paused near the opening to the outer clearing.

Reuben suddenly flipped around and darted back inside as an Enderman teleported right in front of them. She quickly hit the lever, more out of instinct than anything. Olivia peered through the holes in the door, watching to make sure Jesse wasn't trying to get in as well. She was frozen in place, the Enderman leaning close to her, before it straightened and walked away. Jesse visibly relaxed, then slowly made her way out into the clearing.

Olivia moved away from the door, watching the window as she moved to peer out of the window again. Jesse was easy to spot; she was much shorter than all of the other Endermen. Jesse was creeping around, cautiously avoiding eye-contact with Endermen, despite the fact that she was safe. She approached the Enderman holding the clay block, watching the block a moment, then glancing around the clearing.

Apparently there weren't any other blocks around, as Jesse looked back at the Enderman's block, shoulders slumping slightly.

Oh boy.

Gloved hands carefully took hold of the block, before slowly and carefully pulling on it. The movement seemed to last ages, before the Enderman's hands finally fell away from the block. Jesse froze as the Enderman looked at its hands, shaking as a muffled hiss sounded through the glass. Jesse hesitated, then quickly hurried to the far end of the clearing.

Olivia didn't really get to watch what Jesse was doing, as a coughing fit bubbled up. She backed away from the window, doing her best to cough into her arm. Reuben's hooves clicked against the floor as he peered at her worriedly, and she waved a hand slightly. She struggled to swallow down the coughing, and it took her a good few moments to actually stop coughing.

She looked up just in time to watch an Enderman slam it's arm into the side of Jesse's head.

* * *

 **AN: holy shit this is over a week late i am so sorry i have no excuse**

 **also this is a long chapter oops**

 **until next time!**


	29. Soren

Olivia couldn't breathe. Her mind was reeling, and she had no control over herself as she stumbled back into one of the tables, hands clamping tightly over her mouth.

Jesse wasn't moving.

Her chest was burning, and she managed to pry her hands away from her mouth so she could breathe; it was rapid and shallow, but she could do it. She was shaking, her heart was in her throat. Her vision was blurred and she couldn't quite register everything, but she could see the attacking Enderman reaching down for Jesse.

She couldn't go out there, there was absolutely no way she could do so and live. The Endermen were shaking like crazy, hissing at each other and refusing to move away from where Jesse had been hit. Jesse herself was barely visible, a lump of black on the floor.

But if she didn't do something, _anything_ , then Jesse could die.

The attacking Enderman was dragging Jesse towards the doors now; terror shot through Olivia's chest, her breath hitching. Jesse was in immense trouble- she needed help. But Olivia had no form of defense, and she'd already witnessed what happens when you take something from one of these creatures.

Something pounded on the doors, and Reuben let out a tiny squeal. That was enough to spur Olivia into action.

She bumped into the table twice, then managed to get around it and to the door, hand slamming against it and knocking it into the wall. Olivia ran into the table that sat in the middle of the small hallway, then used it to turn and rush into the main hallway. As she left the little hall, she swore she heard the doors clicking open

The others weren't immediately visible, and her breath hitched. Her gaze shot from the fountain to the entrance to the wool world. No, they wouldn't be out there. She turned sharply, forcing a deep breath as she passed the fountain. She could hear them; where were they? Olivia swallowed down another deep breath, struggling to keep her focus on finding the others and not the what-ifs that attacked her.

There was an open door in one of the side hallways- they had to be in there. Her chest was still tight, her hands were shaking harder than they had been; she shoved the door open further and promptly ran straight into Axel.

"Whoa-hoh!" Olivia stumbled back a step or two; Axel had stepped back in surprise, and was now watching her with wide eyes. A quick glance proved that the others were in there as well. "Olivia?"

All eyes were on her, she knew that much; the full scenario had already sunken in, and she almost couldn't take in what was happening around her. Her chest ached, the constant pain of the Withersickness that she had grown used to was now amplified by her panicked state. Her vision almost seemed to flicker.

"Liv?" That was Axel again.

"What's going on?" That was probably Lukas. "What's wrong?"

Olivia took in as much air as she could, holding it a moment, then finally coughed out the words.

"Jesse's being attacked by an Enderman!"

Her voice echoed off of the walls as she struggled to subdue her shaky coughing. Everyone had gone tense, nothing but silence coming from them. Then, without warning, Lukas turned and darted out of the room, bumping into her by accident as he rushed out of the room. She stumbled into the doorframe, coughs stopping momentarily as she watched the blond retreat towards the lab.

Despite the fact that she now had help, her anxiety climbed even higher, and her breath hitched again. A hand clasped her shoulder. "C'mon, c'mon." That was probably Axel; he had a vague tone of urgency in his voice. Olivia nodded, starting out of the room with him and Petra just behind.

She couldn't tell if her anxiety was going away or not until they pushed their way into the room again. Then, it was rapidly forgotten due to pure confusion.

She had expected to see either an empty room, or a room filled with Endermen. Instead, Jesse was standing between the two closest garden tables, Reuben at her feet, watching Lukas in a sort of confusion, before his gaze flicked to her. It may have been the lingering anxiety that caused her to see slight accusation in his gaze for a split second, but she was pretty sure she had imagined it. Lukas was moving warily towards Jesse, taking hold of her arm to pull her away from the other person on Jesse's other side.

Soren was watching the group of them quizzically. He was taller than she had initially anticipated, with ginger hair covering both his head and his jawline. His arms seemed to twitch towards folding over the brown vest covering his torso.

"Soren." Olivia wasn't sure what she took her own voice for; it wavered slightly, either from anxiety or from surprise, possibly desperate. His gaze landed on her, eyes widening slightly as it landed on her arms. She couldn't think much of it before a hand found her arm, pushing gently as Petra made her way in.

"Nice to-" Petra was forcing words through a cough- "meet you, Soren-" she proceeded to cough a couple of times. Olivia folded her hands under her arms, swallowing down her own flurry of coughs that tried to crawl up her throat. Soren' eyes remained wide as he glanced at the redhead.

"You both look… terrible." Olivia couldn't help but flinch; Soren approached them carefully. He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by Petra's eyes widening as she began to gesture behind him while covering her eyes with the other hand. Olivia watched her for a second, then followed her motion. She bit her tongue, her gaze snapping down and one eye closing.

An Enderman stood in the center of the room, vibrating aggressively as more teleported in. Two of them hissed at each other.

"That's… Odd." Soren had covered the tops of his eyes with a hand. "They've never been inside before…"

Olivia shot a wary glance at the redhead. "Don't look up." The Endermen began hissing at each other again

"You've upset them!" Soren shot a glare at Jesse through the corner of his eye. "You've… altered their behavior!"

"Let's g-go." Jesse's words barely came out, but it was enough to be heard. Everyone collectively turned on their heels, Axel leading the way back out of the room.

Axel moved into the hall, ducking back at the end of it. Olivia followed him out risking a glance into the main hallway. There were more Endermen, crowding the halls so much that there was no way to get through. Not safely, anyways. The others filed out, Soren and Jesse appearing last.

"And… The hits j-just keep on coming…" Jesse whispered. Olivia let out a long, muffled sigh as Soren moved around to the other side of the table, crouching in front of Petra.

"I wasn't expecting to have so many houseguests…" Soren let out something that almost sounded like a whimper. "There's no way I have enough seashell soaps for all of them…"

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Lukas ignored the redhead, glancing at Jesse. "We need to come up with a plan." His voice was getting too loud for her comfort. "And not our usual we'll-come-up-with-a-plan-when-we-have-to-" his voice rose to a near shout- "oh-wait-now-we-have-to-!" Olivia aggressively tried to shush him. "... Kind of plan." It didn't quite work.

"One constant about Endermen is that they hate water." Soren glanced over at them. "If we can force that fountain to overflow somehow…" He eyed the fountain ahead of them a moment, then looked back towards them. "Jesse. You still have the Enderman suit. Put that on, and you can safely reach that fountain." Olivia glanced towards Jesse, holding down a coughing fit. The other woman was staring wide-eyed at Soren for a moment, then looked down at the floor. A muffled sigh sounded.

"Just when I thought I-I'd never have to smell this th-thing again…" Jesse pulled the helmet from her pocket and shoved it onto her head. Then, hesitantly, she turned and moved around the back end of the table towards where Soren was crouched. Olivia shot her a sympathetic smile as she passed.

"Good luck, dude," Axel said, voice barely above a whisper. Jesse didn't respond vocally, and if she did visually, Olivia didn't see it. The brunette edged past Petra, then past Soren, nearing the other end of the table.

"We'll, uh… all watch from here then. Where it's safe." Soren's voice was barely above a whisper as well. Jesse hesitated a moment, then continued without responding. She was surprisingly focused on this.

Jesse edged forwards slowly, watching one of the Endermen carefully, and as a result, almost ran into another. She turned just in time, a soft gasp escaping her- and everyone else, for that matter- as she flinched back. The Enderman simply glanced at her, then wandered away. Jesse visibly relaxed, then edged to the fountain, head twitching slightly as she glanced at the nearby Endermen. Then, after watching the fountain for a second, began trying to slowly break the base of it.

It took a few minutes, seeing as the fountain was made of stone, but soon enough, water poured from it and onto the floor. Endermen hissed aggressively, and the sound of them teleporting echoed through the hall. Jesse stepped into the water carefully, then glanced back and motioned for them to follow. They all hesitated for a second, before Olivia followed Lukas into the water, while Jesse edged towards a pillar to peer ahead.

"Oh no…" Olivia moved to hide behind the other pillar, peering cautiously ahead as well. Endermen were lining the hall ahead of them, seemingly oblivious to them for the most part.

"We're gonna die," Lukas said in a matter-of-fact tone. Olivia glanced back as Reuben bumped into Axel, knocking him over and causing him to splash water on her.

Jesse hesitated a moment, then began edging towards the next fountain. Olivia watched her, sparing a second to shoot a mild glare back at Lukas; the blond shrugged, making a face. She glanced back at Jesse who was currently having what looked like a staring contest with an Enderman in her path. Seeing as the brunette's arms were shaking slightly, it hadn't been her choice to do so. The Enderman, luckily, wandered away after a few seconds, and Jesse visibly relaxed, before starting to break the next fountain.

When the water spewed from the fountain, they all hurried forwards as Jesse motioned rapidly for them to move. Axel let out a yell, waving his arms as he ran. Olivia and the others followed suit, passing Jesse, who took up the rear. They passed the fountain quickly, rapidly closing in on the entrance to the wool world.

She lurched to a stop before she ran into Lukas, who had stopped in the doorway. Ahead of them, the entire wool world was covered in Endermen, casually wandering and occasionally croaking or hissing. Olivia quickly threw her hands over the tops of her eyes again as Jesse caught up.

"W-what's going on?" Jesse glanced at her; Olivia couldn't quite find a way to word it, so she simply jerked her head towards the wool ahead. Jesse got the message, gently squeezing between Soren and Petra. A soft gasp told Olivia that Jesse had seen what she meant.

"They're _everywhere_ ," Lukas whispered harshly. "How are we supposed to get through this? I mean physically, and psychologically." Jesse spared a glance back at him. "Suppose we get through this in one piece; can't see how this won't become a recurring nightmare."

"You aren't helping." Olivia hissed at him. He glanced briefly at her.

"Jesse, you're the one with the Enderman suit." Soren called forwards. "If we hold onto you, and keep our heads down-"

"We can pass right through." Lukas finished for him. Soren looked mildly annoyed at being interrupted, but said nothing about it. Jesse nodded once in confirmation. "I guess if this is the only way to the trap door…"

They lined up; Lukas took hold of Jesse's shoulders, Axel getting in line behind him. Olivia placed one hand on Axel's back, and quickly felt hands on her shoulders. After a few moments, as they settled in line, Olivia gripped Axel's sweater as best as she could as to keep up, and followed him as their train slowly started forwards.

It took every last piece of concentration to not flinch at every noise the haunting around them made. She figured that Lukas or Jesse might be doing the same thing, but she wasn't to sure. There were croaks and noises of teleportation all around her; her chest was beginning to hurt again.

"M-maybe we should, u-um…" Jesse's voice was just loud enough for her to understand her. "T-turn around." There was a pause. "O-or not…" Olivia pried her eyes open to look at the floor; they were on one of the bridges, which meant they could easily be trapped. There was a yelp, and she was forced back wards a couple of steps. For a few seconds, Jesse's voice came out as a squeak. Then, silence followed whatever she had said.

Then there was a hiss, and every Enderman around her started hissing as well.

"E-everyone, i-into the water!" Jesse's call barely sounded over the multiple hisses. Her grip on Axel's sweater was lost as he whirled around and slammed his fist into the fence post. The wood splintered away instantly, and he jumped into the water only seconds later. Olivia quickly followed suit, though with a touch of hesitation.

The water surged over her head, and she quickly managed to resurface. The others were either in the water or jumping in. Save for Reuben, who was on top of Axel's head. Jesse and Soren were swimming towards the fountain, Soren explaining something as they got further and further away.

Olivia felt her chest getting tighter, and, as a result, sunk a little bit. This, of course, caused her to panic more. Swimming was hard enough, as the water was hurting her hands with how cold it was. The Endermen were hissing repeatedly; if anyone was talking, she couldn't hear them at all. A hand wrapped itself under her arms; Axel was holding her up, while somehow keeping himself afloat. She glanced at him, but he was watching the fountain. Her gaze moved to the fountain, where Jesse was pulling herself onto the top platform.

For a second, Jesse simply glanced around the platform she was on. Then, she leaned down and hit something on the floor. The entire room started rumbling, and Jesse called down to them, but no one could hear her. She suddenly tumbled off of the side as the water level suddenly rose rapidly. She was forced upwards as it continued to rise.

"Well done, Jesse! Now, we need to get the the trap door!" Soren was motioning towards the hill with the trap door, which was quickly covered by water.

The group quickly started towards the exit; Axel was still trying to hold her up, but as a result, they were moving slower than everyone. Olivia broke away from his grip about halfway there, forcing her way forwards until all she had to do was dive down. Lukas was just ahead of her; she was struggling to keep her momentum, so when she was within reach, the blond took hold of her arm and pulled her through the exit. She was forced down a rapid waterfall, barely managing to turn the corners as she went until she was forced into the portal.

The weird feeling of the portal seemed to hurt this time, though it might have just been her fatigue. Olivia was launched through the portal and landed hard on the stone floor.

* * *

 **AN: i'm bad at keeping u h**

 **also this is probably gonna have a sequel of eps 5-8**

 **and a new cover bc why not**

 **until next time!**


	30. Formidi-Bomb

It took Olivia a good few moments to regain her bearings. By the time she had, everyone but Jesse and Petra were out of the End. She pushed herself up, rubbing her head slightly as she did. The others were rubbing varying parts of their bodies as well; the second she got to her feet, she had to step back as a yelp sounded from the portal.

Jesse and Petra flew through, Petra landing on top of Soren, and Jesse hitting the floor right next to Reuben. Everyone else collectively flinched.

"We…" Jesse sounded slightly dazed as she started to push herself up. Her helmet had come off at some point. "W-we made it."

"Making it…" Soren was pushing himself up as Petra straightened. "Is relative." No one really responded to this, as Petra made a weird noise and suddenly gestured to the doorway. Olivia glanced through to the next room.

All of the mobs from before were still there. In fact, they had multiplied. Olivia shuffled back behind the wall as arrows began shooting out at them. Jesse pulled her sword out, starting for a zombie a few paces away. It only took a few swings for her to send the thing toppling into smoke, before she ducked behind the wall next to Olivia.

"N-not that this isn't a ton o-of fun, b-but… L-let's get that Formidi-Bomb a-and get _out_ of here!" Jesse's voice came out as something between a yell and a squeak. Soren pulled out a sword of his own before responding.

"There's just one little problem. Tiny, really." He turned to push his back against the wall, then jabbed the handle of his sword into a zombie's head. "Miniscule, even." He turned and finished the mob off, then looked to Jesse. "I haven't actually built it yet."

"That's a _small_ problem?!" Lukas stared exasperatedly at the ginger. He ignored him.

"Say, you seem like someone who appreciates cool stuff that's cool for no reason." Olivia blinked. That was a mouthful.

"Th-thanks?" Jesse sounded just as confused.

Soren gestured to something on the doorframe. "Go ahead and throw that lever behind you!"

Jesse glanced at something past the wall. As she did, a sudden flurry of arrows shot past, hitting the portal's base right beside Reuben; the pig squealed and scrambled backwards.

"Jesse?" The brunette glanced back at her, spotting the arrows, then whipped around and hit something Olivia couldn't see. There was a low rumbling noise, only lasting a moment before orange objects fell down from the ceiling in the next room.

"Hold onto your socks…" Soren was grinning. "Because they're about to get blown off!"

Olivia hadn't noticed the T's of iron before then. Now, as pumpkins landed on them, they would rumble and break apart into iron golems, then quickly begin attacking the many mobs around. Olivia found herself edging away from the golems slightly, flinching as one golem used a zombie to hit a spider into the far wall. Soren was watching it all with excitement, though he flinched at every attack.

"They aren't… They a-aren't gonna attack us when they're done, r-right…?" Jesse glanced at the redhead, who glanced back at her.

"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies." Soren turned back to the doorway. Jesse's hands drooped from her chest ever so slightly.

"Wh-?"

"Ask me no questions!" Soren whipped around to look at Jesse again, then turned and started into the next room. Jesse flinched, hesitating a moment before following. Olivia folded her arms, trailing after Jesse cautiously. The iron golems ignored them, taking care of the last straggling mobs as they continued to the loot room.

"Do you guys hear that?" Olivia glanced at Axel, who was looking around at the tracks above in excitement.

"H-hear what?" Jesse's voice rose slightly in pitch. Axel glanced back at her.

"All that stuff, whispering 'take me, take me now!'" He grinned widely, turning to watch some of the transport tubes carry items to their places. Olivia made a face, coughing once as she decided to play along.

"I think it's saying-" she put on a somewhat ghostly tone- "'Olivia should get to take more than Axel.'" She smiled slightly at Axel, who made a face, and put a hand to her chin. "Why? 'Because she's cooler.'" She would have continued if it weren't for a minor coughing fit. Axel rolled his eyes amusedly at her addition as she subdued the coughs.

"U-um… I-I know it's cool i-in here, b-but all we really need here i-is the stuff for the Formidi-Bomb." Jesse was glancing around somewhat apprehensively as she spoke, pulling the gloves of the suit off of her hands. Olivia lifted an eyebrow at her, while Axel sent an odd look towards the brunette.

"... The loot says you're wrong." Axel placed his hands on his hips. Jesse flinched back while Olivia shot him a sideways glance, before rolling her eyes at him and turning away.

Soren cleared his throat, catching their attention. "I'll just fetch the Super TNT." He turned, pointing to a platform above the doorway behind him. "It's right up there." Jesse squinted slightly at the platform, which was well above their heads.

"H-how are you gonna get up there?" She looked back to Soren. He smiled mischievously.

"Oh, I have my ways…" As he spoke, two of the iron golems stopped beneath the edge of the platform, before one of them clambered up onto the other's shoulders and grabbed the edge. Soren turned and moved over to them, taking hold of some of the vines on the bottom golem and clambering up. He then turned back to face them. "Oh, and feel free to help yourselves." Olivia could sense Axel's excitement. He turned and darted off, Olivia moving towards one of the closer chests, while Jesse and Lukas hesitated where they were. "Just keep an eye out for the gunpowder we'll need for that Formidi-Bomb."

The rest of them split up, and Olivia pulled the chest open as best she could. She fumbled with the clasp a bit, but managed to push it open. The chest was mostly empty, containing only a few items. She spotted an odd, red and black object she couldn't place a name to yet, as well as a vial of glowing gold dust and a fishing rod. Her hand stretched out for the red and black orb, pointedly ignoring the purple on her arms. She couldn't quite get a grip on it, though, and nearly dropped it as she tried to pull it from it's place. She managed to catch it in her other hand before it fell, and lifted it.

It turned out to be a spider eye. The realization caused her to be torn on whether she found it cool or gross. She slowly placed it back in the chest; considering the only thing it was used for was brewing, they had no purpose for it. She looked to the vile of dust for a moment, then carefully managed to pick it up without dropping it. It appeared to be glowstone dust, something one could only get in the Nether, though she didn't entirely remember seeing any when they were there. Then again, most of their journeys through the Nether had been rushed. On top of that, though, they had no use for it at the moment, so she carefully dropped it back into the chest.

Which left the fishing rod. Well, you never know when you need a fishing rod. She managed to retrieve it and pocket it with little trouble.

She stepped away from the chest, not bothering to close it as she flipped herself around and settled on the steps. She noticed Axel first; he was sitting in the archway in the center of the room, a look of slight distress on his face and hands empty. Past him were Petra and Lukas, sitting in front of a different chest and talking quietly. Jesse was crossing the room towards her, pocketing what looked to be four vials of gunpowder. Her gaze flicked up to the balcony above the door, where Soren was digging through one of the several chests, a few of them left open.

"Hey." Olivia's gaze flickered back to Jesse. "Y-you holding up okay?"

Olivia nodded, swallowing the urge to cough down. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jesse hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly, glancing back at the others. "How are you doing?"

Jesse glanced back at her, smiling ever so slightly. "I-I'm okay. Just…" She trailed off, glancing over at Petra, then at Olivia's hands. "Just a-a little worried about all of it." Olivia shifted, folding her arms.

"Yeah, it's…" She glanced up at Soren again. "This isn't a solid plan. We don't even know if it'll work." Her gaze moved back to Jesse, who was nodding slightly, a hand on her arm. "I hope it does. I'm tired of this." Jesse opened her mouth to respond, but was promptly cut off.

"Jesse!" Soren called down from the balcony, approaching the edge and watching the brunette semi-excitedly. "Have you found the gunpowder?"

Jesse nodded once. "Y-yessir."

Soren's grin widened as he clambered back down the golems, which Olivia now realized hadn't moved at all. "Oh, good, good! Glad to hear it." Olivia pushed to her feet carefully, moving to stand beside Jesse as the ginger approached. "I am sorry about not keeping this place as organized as I should. It's very embarrassing." He paused, retrieving what looked to be a glowing piece of TNT from his pocket. "And _this_ is my Super TNT."

Olivia's brows furrowed as she peered at the explosive. "Wait, I thought Super TNT _was_ the Formidi-Bomb." The others had approached from the other end of the room, Lukas stopping beside her while Axel and Petra both moved to stand behind Soren.

Soren scoffed. "Of course not! They're two completely different words, aren't they?" She blinked, sharing a glance with Lukas.

"How do we, uh…" Gazes moved to Jesse. "H-how do we make the Formidi-Bomb, then? D-do we just combine it w-with the gunpowder, or…?"

Soren nodded. "The recipe is very simple, really. Super TNT in the middle, and gunpowder all around." Jesse nodded slowly, watching the Super TNT cautiously. Soren glanced at it, before a look of realization snapped to his features. "Oh, that is another thing. We can't craft it yet."

"We can't?" Petra looked somewhat appalled. "Why not?"

"The ingredients are highly unstable when in close proximity to each other." Soren pocketed the explosive. "We have to wait. For now, we…" He trailed off, a look of confusion crossing his features as he glanced at Jesse somewhat sheepishly. "... I'm afraid I've forgotten what to do next." Olivia swore she heard Lukas choke down a groan of annoyance.

"W-we, um…" Jesse's hands found the ends of her hair. "W-we find a way to get the F-Formidi-Bomb inside the Wither Storm to blow it up?" She glanced at Olivia, who nodded once. Jesse glanced back at Soren, then at something past him, before her eyes went wide. Olivia followed the other's gaze.

An Enderman had teleported into the next room. Her hands automatically covered her eyes and she turned her back on the next room's doorway. Jesse quickly followed suit, as did the others.

"Oh- oh dear… I was afraid of this." Soren sounded strangely calm; then again, he had been around Endermen for years now. "With the End underwater, the Endermen will try to escape." Olivia felt something bump her leg; Reuben was shakily stumbling over to Jesse, a high-pitched whine escaping him.

"Let's not wait around for them, then." Lukas hissed. Soren glanced at the blond briefly, then at the far wall.

"Of course… of course!" His voice rose suddenly. "To the minecarts, everybody!" Minecarts? What minecarts? Olivia glanced back at Soren, then followed his gaze to the far wall, where a train of minecarts stretched around a small loop of track.

Oh. Those minecarts.

The group took off towards the far end of the room. "I've been waiting ages to say that." She could barely hear Soren over the blood rushing through her ears. "To people, I mean." No one responded to him, quickly climbing into the minecarts. Olivia climbed into the third minecart of the row, behind Jesse and Reuben. She glanced briefly back as Lukas climbed into the cart behind her as more Endermen teleported into the room. Then, she looked forwards just in time to Watch Reuben's cart hit the powered tracks, and rocket at a terrifyingly high speed through the tunnel ahead. Jesse let out a tiny squeak before she, too, rocketed away. Olivia braced herself against the cart as hers hit the powered tracks, and her head nearly snapped back at the sudden acceleration.

It took only a few seconds for her to catch up with Jesse and Reuben, who had slowed a considerable amount. Olivia's cart slammed into the back of Jesse's, linking them together. A few seconds passed before someone- Lukas, apparently- slammed into the back of her cart. Pretty soon, the other three had joined them as they continued to speed down the track.

"Incoming!" Axel called forwards, causing Olivia to catch sight of what was ahead. An opening to the outer world was rapidly closing in, and she could see several mobs trying to get in. This, of course, was a problem, as Reuben's cart hit a spider and sent the entire train launching forwards.

Olivia landed on her shoulder a few feet away from the wreck of minecarts, sliding slightly when she fully hit the dirt. Her bearings snapped to her again at an ear-splitting screech; she lurched up and looked to the source, spotting the Wither Storm closer than she was comfortable with. And it was definitely bigger than before. She scrambled to her feet, shuffling over to where Axel and Lukas stood looking around. Soren was standing just behind her burly friend, as if hiding from something. She followed his gaze to where Jesse was running over to Magnus and Ellegaard, both wielding swords and looking no worse than they had before storming away.

"There's mobs everywhere!" Lukas was looking around wildly.

"This is an awful lot of monsters for the daytime." Axel paused. "Is it even daytime?"

"Does it matter?!" Lukas snapped. Axel shrugged, sidestepping away from a creeper.

"I don't think now is the time for this, you two!" Olivia reached down and snatched Reuben away from a hesitating spider, dropping him between her and Axel. She shook her hands of the sharp tingling feeling they had gained from the contact, glancing back over at where Jesse was helping Ellegaard and Magnus. The second she looked over, though, a threatened creeper detonated, sending the three flying in different directions. Jesse landed on her back nearby.

That was enough to send everyone scattering. Olivia darted out of the way of the retreating stream of mobs, Axel following her while screaming. Petra had retrieved her sword to protect herself, while Lukas hurried over to help Jesse.

"You don't have to worry about the monsters!" She lurched to a stop, glancing back at Soren. "They're running away!" Sure enough, all of the mobs in the area were running for the tunnel they had just come out of. Soren turned forwards. "Worry about what they're running away from."

The Wither Storm wasn't much closer than it had been the last time she looked at it. She moved to stand behind Jesse as Axel moved around beside Lukas.

"I feel like that got bigger." Axel was eyeing one of its heads warily.

"It did." Olivia's voice was flatter than intended. Jesse bit her lip nervously. She didn't need to say anything for her to know what the brunette was thinking.

This was gonna suck.

* * *

 **AN: hello hello this is very very late i apologize. this chapter was giving me some trouble and i've been pretty busy. thank's for being patient! :3c**

 **thank you very much for the nice comments on the last chapter! it means a lot!**

 **until next time!**


	31. Sky High

"Soren?" Gazes flicked over to a nearby bridge, where Ellegaard and Magnus were standing, staring at the ginger.

"It's him! I-i-it's you!" Magnus nearly dropped his sword, while Ellegaard swiftly put hers away. Soren stepped out from behind Axel, approaching his old teammates almost guiltily. Magnus put his sword away, and they both grinned at the approaching architect.

"Hello, old friends." Soren waved slightly.

Olivia gave up on watching their reunion to glance back at the Wither Storm. It let out another screech, causing all of them to flinch back. Soren turned and hurried onto the bridge ahead of them, Jesse following him and stopping near the bottom. The Wither Storm growled, lashing tentacles as it grew ever closer.

"It's time to go! We only get one shot at this!" He turned to face them, though it almost seemed like he was talking more at Jesse than anyone else. "Remember, once the Formidi-Bomb is crafted, it'll explode in a matter of seconds!" His voice lowered slightly. "It means whoever is doing the crafting will be in great danger." He glanced over the rest of the group. "I was thinking, maybe, um… maybe we could draw straws?" Jesse glanced back at the group, conflict evident in her gaze.

There wasn't time for debate. Olivia knew for a fact that she and Petra were out of the count- not that she was complaining. Axel, she guessed, wasn't going to step up to do it, no matter how cool setting off that powerful of a bomb sounded to him. Lukas, based on how pale he had gotten, probably wouldn't either. Based on how Soren was talking, he wasn't planning on stepping up. Jesse, she had a feeling, would likely step up if she was pressured to. Which at this point would happen if she was the only one left. But, so far, Magnus and Ellegaard both hadn't shown any sign of backing out.

Magnus let out a nervous laugh. "Don't look at me." Olivia glanced warily at him. Okay, one down.

"I may have tweaked an ankle earlier, so…" Ellegaard rubbed the back of her head. Two down. Olivia's gaze lifted to Jesse, who was looking down at the bridge with trembling hands.

There was a long moment where no one said anything. The rumble of the Wither Storm growing closer and the screeches it let out becoming no more than a humming background noise to her as she shared a glance with Petra. She didn't want Jesse to do it. She wasn't sure how to fix it, but she didn't want Jesse to put herself in that dangerous of a scenario. But even if she were to volunteer to go instead, no one would even consider letting her. She was sick; who lets a sick person do something like that?

"I'll do it."

The words were so shaky and quiet that it was a miracle they were heard. Jesse's hands were in white-knuckled fists, nails digging into her palms as she very obviously tried to control her emotions. Her eyes clenched shut for a moment, before Jesse turned to look at Soren. "I'll set off the Formidi-Bomb."

Somehow, even though everyone saw it coming, Olivia still felt a dizzying pang of fear at those words. Soren gave the brunette a long, almost sad look, before admitting, "that's what I was hoping for." He pulled the Super TNT from his pocket, handling it to the brunette who hesitantly took it with trembling hands. "The rest of us will build distractions in its path. Hopefully that will buy you some time."

Petra moved to speak, coughed a couple of times, then glared at the two Order members in front of her. Olivia hadn't realized until then that she had been glaring at the back of Ellegaard's head. "You should be ashamed of yourselves," the redhead beside her hissed. Both Ellegaard and Magnus looked back at her, then looked away again, heads hanging. Another long silence followed them.

"Jesse, take my armor." Olivia's gaze snapped back to Ellegaard as the inventor stepped forwards, lifting an arm to Jesse, who blinked in surprise. Olivia, shared a startled glance with Axel, who looked confused. "It'll help."

Magnus glanced at her, then copied her movement. "Nah, you can take mine." Axel lurched in surprise. "It's gotten me outta a lot of jams." Jesse held a conflicted look, glancing between the two of them. She looked almost like she didn't want either, which was likely. The two Order members, however, didn't take notice, and promptly began arguing.

"I insist." Ellegaard lifted her arm slightly.

"I double insist." Magnus glanced at the inventor. She scoffed.

"I _triple_ insist."

"I…" Magnus trailed off for a second, "insist four times!" Soren put a hand to his face.

Olivia drowned their arguing out as she glanced at Jesse again. The brunette looked incredibly conflicted, fear rising in her gaze the longer they argued. Finally, the two fell out of the argument when Petra stepped forwards and tapped them both on the shoulders, telling them very calmly to shut up. Jesse took in a deep breath, glancing between the two of them, before slowly and apprehensively approaching Ellegaard. Despite how happy Ellegaard seemed, Jesse held a heavy look of guilt, refusing to look anyone in the eye.

"Jesse, you deserve this." Ellegaard lifted her hands in a sort of reassuring manner. "What you're doing means that-" her voice suddenly rose to a scream- "we're all gonna die!" Jesse flinched, ducking down as she looked behind her.

"What-?!" Jesse backed up, managing to move around Ellegaard. The Wither Storm screeched, closer than ever. They had no time left.

No one bothered to watch as Ellegaard transferred her armor to Jesse. The brunette had only just pulled on the last piece- one of the gloves- when the group took off running towards the Storm.

"Jesse, you're going to have to set down a crafting table out there and make that Formidi-Bomb!" Soren called over to the brunette, who nodded once. "Everyone else, grab a buddy and split up! We need to keep that Wither Storm on track, so build build build!"

Olivia ducked to the left, following Reuben and Ellegaard as they hurried towards a small clearing, just big enough for something somewhat large. Soren called out to Jesse again, but she couldn't hear what he had said. Their group consisted of her, Ellegaard, Lukas, Petra, and Reuben, who presumably wasn't going to build. Lukas turned and examined the area briefly, then whipped around to look at Olivia.

"Can you build?"

"I can damn sure try," she snapped. He nodded once, unfazed by her unintended attitude, and asked Petra the same question.

"If she can, I can. Let's go." The redhead turned to the area. Ellegaard quickly produced materials she must have picked up while they were in the End, and tossed handfuls at each of them. Olivia caught hers, though the contact sent a jolt of pain up both arms. She ignored it.

"What do we build?" Lukas called to the engineer. Ellegaard glanced at him.

"It doesn't matter! A-a tower or something!"

That was enough of an idea to get started. They scrambled to the center of the clearing and got to work. It felt like the Building Competition all over again, in a way. Building under a time limit with crushing odds all around them. The distraction of the thought was enough to help Olivia ignore the growing pain in her arms. She spotted Jesse skidding to a stop as close to the Storm as she could get. Not a second later, a frantic "watch out!" from Lukas snapped her attention to an incoming tentacle, and she managed to hop off of the tower before it was slammed to the ground. The group darted over to the others, who seemed to be building a giant pig statue.

Olivia had tried to help, but couldn't even touch the materials this time without a sharp, searing pain appearing because of it. So, instead, she found a place to watch and wait. And, ultimately, feel useless. As the others built rapidly, she watched Jesse rapidly place items onto a crafting table. She had just placed down a final item when a tractor beam caught sight of her, yanking the items from the table before the bomb could form. Olivia gasped, hand lifting slightly as Jesse let out a yelp, being pulled from the ground herself. The crafting table was close behind her. Jesse struggled in the air for a moment, then managed to "swim" upwards and grab some of the gunpowder, she then furiously kicked her way away from an incoming tree, then turned towards the build.

"Look out!" The yell wasn't nearly loud enough for anyone to register what she had said before it was too late. A tentacle swiped at the statue, causing Axel to duck under it while both Magnus and Ellegaard were knocked away. Olivia scrambled away from the build, as did everyone else, as the tractor beam found it and pulled it from the ground. They grouped up again quickly, looking up at Jesse just long enough to figure out their next issue.

"She's gonna die if we don't gether down from there." Petra glanced between Olivia and Axel. "That armor might help protect her from the blast, but she's getting way too close to the Wither Storm. She could become 'withered' or whatever if we don't hold her back."

"What are we supposed to do, then?" Magnus folded his arms, seemingly more out of discomfort than anything else. "We can't follow her up, we'll never reach her in time." Olivia glanced at the brunette who was trying once again to craft the bomb. Her mind silently went through her inventory; she had an arrow, some redstone items from Redstonia, and a fishing rod, nothing else. The pistons would take too long to wire up, and the arrow wouldn't do anything for them. The fishing rod could- wait a second, that was it!

"I've got it!" She blurted out, catching the others' attention. She dug the rod from her pocket, earning semi-confused looks from them. "If we can get this to hook onto Ellegaard's armor, we could at least hold her back so she can't become part of the Storm before it blows up!"

"Yes, yes! That should work perfectly!" Soren nodded frantically, and Petra took the fishing rod from her, which she couldn't complain about. "Let's go, hurry!"

They darted over into the Storm's path, Petra lining herself up with Jesse and throwing the line. Lucky for them, it caught the first time, hooking Jesse's belt as she shoved a glowing purple bomb away from herself. The brunette looked back over her shoulder as Petra lurched forwards, and the rest of them gathered around, grabbing various points of the fishing rod and pulling with all of their might. Olivia barely spotted a slight grin grow on Jesse's face through her hair before she turned to look at the Wither Storm.

Then, the bomb went off. And everyone was thrown backwards.

Olivia was amazed that no one had landed on top of someone else. She hit the ground with her back, tumbling over herself once before stopping on her stomach. She struggled to push herself up again, coughing somewhat harshly. She sat there, leaning on her elbow for a long moment as she managed to get the strength in her arms to push herself to her feet. The others were struggling to their feet around her, the fishing rod abandoned nearby, the line snapped. She did a silent headcount. Lukas was the closest to the fishing rod, pushing himself to his feet while rubbing a hand across his torso. Axel was nearby, as was Magnus, Soren not far off. Petra was near her, Reuben standing close by and looking around. She hadn't seen Ellegaard since she had been hit away. Jesse was nowhere to be seen.

Her heart leapt into her throat, looking wildly around for her missing friend. She couldn't be far, she was on the end of a fishing line. Not that that was much, but it would've helped. A still figure a good ways away- it seemed more like a distance that seemed impossible- caught her attention.

A brunette, lying face down on the ground. It had to be her.

"Jesse!" Her voice cracked when she yelled, but she ignored it, turning and running at full speed towards her. She managed to skid to a stop before she reached the other, instantly kneeling down and feeling for a pulse. It took her very little time to find one, and she sighed in relief. The others were close behind her, apparently, because as she straightened, Petra knelt down on her right, Lukas and Axel doing the same to her left. Reuben pushed his way between her and Lukas, snorting worriedly as he nosed at Jesse's head.

"Is she okay?" Petra glanced at Olivia, who nodded in response.

"Should be." She paused, swallowing hard. "I think."

Axel didn't seem to like that. "So there's a chance she's not okay?"

Olivia struggled to find a way to respond. "M-maybe? I-I don't know, we won't know until she wakes up."

"Let's not focus on what could be wrong." Petra shot Axel a hard look. "As far as we can tell, she isn't injured, so it's just waiting for her to wake up again."

"Yeah, but…" Axel continued talking, but Olivia didn't catch what he said, as she took notice of Jesse beginning to stir. The brunette pushed herself up slightly, lifting her head to look at them. Slight relief washed over her, and she felt her shoulders relax.

"Axel." Olivia glanced at the blond beside her. "She'll be fine. She's just-" He was cut off by a hard thud behind them; they all turned to look, watching as one of the Wither Storm's heads hit the ground, eye and teeth no longer glowing as it sat limply in place.

It was dead. Jesse had succeeded.

"Is that it?" Olivia pushed herself to a standing position, as did the others. "Is it over?" She glanced back at Jesse, who had already pushed to her feet, running a hand through her hair as she eyed the chunk of the Storm that had fallen.

"I can't believe it's… actually _dead_!" Olivia threw her arms forwards for emphasis.

"You did it, Jesse!" Lukas looked as excited as he sounded; he turned and grinned at Jesse. "You actually did it!" Jesse responded with a half smile.

Magnus stepped forwards, hands on his hips. "Ha ha! Handled like a champ!"

"Look, I know it wasn't easy, but…" Lukas trailed off, almost breathless.

"About time we got a real win." Axel finished for him. Jesse glanced between them, seemingly unsure what to say.

Olivia glanced down at her arms; the purple sickness had spread up to the middle of her upper arms, but at the moment… They felt normal then. As if they weren't sick. They didn't feel tense or stiff or anything. It felt weird now, having full control of her arms again.

"I-I couldn't have done any of this without you guys." She looked back at Jesse, whose smile had widened. "Thank you." Olivia grinned, folding her arms.

"Oh, believe me, we're well aware." Jesse's smile turned sheepish. "Thank's for saying it, though." Reuben trotted around her and butt his head against Jesse's leg. The brunette crouched down to pat his head, and he snorted happily.

Olivia looked back to the wreckage. The massive piles of tentacles and weird black flesh reminded her; they hadn't seen Ellegaard for a while. And now that she thought about it, as she glanced at the others around her, Soren had disappeared too. That was worrying.

"Hey, uh…" Jesse turned to look at her curiously, straightening up again. "Hate to put a damper on things, but has anyone seen Soren or Ellegaard?" Everyone had a look similar to realization on their faces at her words, and they all began looking around. Olivia moved forwards a couple of steps, glancing over into the trees to her left. They couldn't have gone far; where would they go, honestly?

"Oh, no…" Jesse's quiet voice caught her attention, and she turned just in time to watch the brunette suddenly run off towards the far side of the clearing. Olivia shared a nervous glance with Petra, then followed Lukas and Magnus as they followed Jesse.

This couldn't be good.

She nearly ran into Magnus when he suddenly lurched to a stop, and managed to stumble to a stop just behind him. In front of them was something that took her a good thirty seconds to fully register. And when it did, she wasn't sure if what she saw was real.

Jesse and Soren were both kneeling on the ground, Soren cradling Ellegaard in his arms while Jesse had taken hold of the inventor's hand. Ellegaard herself looked, honestly, awful; her breathing was ragged and her face was pale, a thin trail of blood running from the corner of her mouth. She was speaking to Jesse, but it was so quiet and shaky that no one could hear her.

She was dying, there was no mistaking it.

Olivia barely felt herself take a step back.

Jesse's grip on Ellegaard's hand tightened slightly. "Thank you." Her voice was shaking. "F-for everything." Ellegaard's response was too quiet for Olivia to hear over the ringing in her ears. She pulled her arms in, placing one hand on her inner elbow and the other against her mouth as tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

Everything Ellegaard had said to her since they had met came back to her. Every judgemental remark or irritated glance she had received from her idol decided to remind her of themselves then. Olivia realized right then that she had never proven herself to her. And now, there was no way to do so. There was no time.

She wondered how she was supposed to feel. Was she supposed to feel upset over the fact that the inventor had never liked her, and likely never would? Because she didn't; she just wanted to let it all go, not think about it. Maybe that was the right way to feel.

Her attention was pulled back to the scenario at hand when Ellegaard suddenly looked past Jesse, causing the brunette to turn and look over her shoulder. Olivia followed their gazes.

A swarm of people was emerging from the remains of the Storm, most of them trudging along tiredly or holding their heads in their hands as they walked. But they were alive. All of them were alive. They were alive, some might be trapped in the Storm, but they were _alive_.

"A-all those people…" Jesse turned back to Ellegaard. "Th-they're alive! Th-the Wither Storm didn't kill them!" She sounded almost shocked.

"Jesse- those people- you have to help them." This was the first time Ellegaard had been loud enough to hear. " _All_ of them." Jesse's excitement by their discovery visibly drained from her body. "Make sure they get out, don't leave anybody behind." Jesse didn't respond immediately. "Please."

Jesse took hold of Ellegaard's hand again. "O-of course I'll help them. Every last one of them." She smiled slightly, her voice tightening. "We're the good guys, r-right? I-it's what we do."

Ellegaard's response never came, as her hand fell from Jesse's and she visibly relaxed.

Olivia had to turn away.

There was a long moment where no one said anything. There was nothing _to_ say. Magnus stepped forwards, head drooping as he grieved for his fallen teammate. She hadn't looked at Soren's face at all through this, and couldn't bring herself to do so now. She moved her hand from her mouth to her forehead, and a hand met her shoulder, but she didn't bother to see who it was.

Finally, as Olivia managed to swallow the lump in her throat, Jesse stood up, stepping away from Ellegaard with Reuben just beside her.

"Come on, Reuben. We've got a job to do."


	32. Alive

"Y-you guys help the survivors. I'm gonna make sure th-that no one's trapped in there." Olivia nodded once, and Jesse hopped into a run, Reuben darting after her.

Olivia split away from the others, immediately moving to help someone who had tripped. They looked more exhausted up close than they had before; she just hoped that no one had wound up sick or hurt from this. As the person she was helping began to continue their way away from the wreckage, she moved into the crowd to another person- a man who seemed to be moving slower than everyone else.

"Hey, are you okay?" She carefully placed a hand on the man's shoulder, and offered the other one. The man glanced at her.

"Yes, yes, thank you." Olivia nodded once, and slowly lifted her hands away as the man continued, coughing lightly. She hesitated at that; she really hoped he wasn't sick. She then also realized that she should probably avoid showing these people her hands, as that could cause unnecessary panic or something along the lines of that.

She caught sight of someone leaning against a tree, pressing their arm against the bark and hunching over slightly. She quickly moved towards them, automatically taking hold of their free arm to help hold them up. "Easy, are you okay?" They looked shakily up at her, and she recognized them instantly.

It was Maya, looking worse than she'd ever seen her. Her hair was a mess, her clothes disheveled. It shouldn't have been as surprising as it was, seeing as she had been stuck in that monster of a Wither Storm. Maya watched her for a long moment, then suddenly turned and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"What's going on?" Her voice was shaking, raspy. It held so much fear in it that Olivia wouldn't have believed it was hers if she wasn't right there, as she was so used to the sarcastic, snarky tone she always had. "I-I don't know what happened, we were running, a-and there was fire, and-" She cut herself off. "What happened?"

"Hey, it's okay now. There was a monster- the Wither Storm, as we've been calling it- it's been destroying things. But it's dead now. Everything is okay now." Olivia carefully pulled Maya's hands from her shoulders, simply holding onto them. Maya stared at her for a long moment, then looked down slightly, before her gaze snapped up to hers again.

"Where's my teammates? Lukas, Aiden, Gill?" Her voice was barely above a whisper this time, tears forming in the other's eyes. "Where are my friends?"

Olivia hesitated for a moment. "Lukas has been with us this whole time, he's perfectly fine." Maya started to sigh in relief, then caught herself.

"What about Gill and Aiden?" Her grip on Olivia's hands tightened.

"I…" Olivia hesitated, then sighed. "I haven't seen them." Maya's breath caught in her throat. "B-but I'm sure they're around here somewhere. We just have to find them."

"Please help me look." Maya was begging. The whole idea of her _not_ trying to make her feel like shit was strange. Olivia didn't hesitate to nod. "Thank you."

" You look near the front of this group of people." Olivia motioned to the front of the mob. "That way if anything happens with the Wither Storm, though I doubt it, you're further away from it and won't get caught again. I'll look over there, and if I see them, I'll send them up to you." She paused, considering the other's motives. "And if something _does_ happen with the Storm, please just run." Maya looked somewhat taken aback, then looked down again.

"Okay." Maya nodded slowly, releasing her hands and starting towards the front. Then she hesitated. "If you run into Lukas-"

"I'll tell him too, don't worry." Olivia nodded. Maya started to respond, then nodded once and hurried away. Olivia quickly turned and made her way through the crowd, weaving her way between the people moving the opposite direction.

One person bumped into her arm by accident. Considering her arms had been feeling perfectly normal since the Storm had fallen, she wasn't going to think anything of it. But, for some reason, the light bump had sent an agonizing pain shooting through her arm. She had to bite down the cry that clawed at her throat, as to not scare anyone around her. She did stumble, slightly, barely pulling herself together again before she ran into someone else.

That was odd. That was terrifying. She thought the sickness was gone, and yet she was in more pain than before. The ground blurred slightly; why, exactly, she wasn't sure. No, she needed to focus. She needed to find Lukas; she knew he was there, at least, unlike the other two missing Ocelots, who could be anywhere.

It didn't take her long to spot the blond, thankfully, and she carefully made her way over to him. She started to call out to him, to get his attention, only to end up in a coughing fit. Which might've caught his attention anyways if she wasn't so far away. What the hell was happening to her?

As if on cue, the ground beneath her suddenly started shaking violently; she nearly toppled over, but grabbed her balance and pushed her way over to Lukas. As she reached him, he turned to the now still crowd of people.

"Go, go! Get out of here; run!" It didn't take a second for people to start running as fast as they could away from the remains, screaming like crazy.

It was like EnderCon all over again. Olivia inhaled deeply.

"Did Jesse come out of there?!" She turned to Lukas, whose face fell.

"I-I don't know!" He turned to look towards the wreckage. "We need to meet up with everyone else! If she's out, we'll know then!" She nodded once in response, and the two took off for a chunk of land sticking up out of the ground. It was a good place to start, and it protected them from the Storm, which was rising up from the ground. She just hoped the others had the same idea.

Everything was a blur to her. Her chest hurt and she was running, other than that she couldn't quite catch everything. She basically ran right into the weird chunk of land, catching herself on dirt and nearly crumbling to the floor. Petra was there already, and Soren and Magnus were quick to join them. She pressed her back against the dirt to keep herself up. Axel and Jesse were missing, and Reuben she knew was with Jesse.

"Are you okay?" Lukas' question caught her attention; she glanced at him, finding him watching her. She swallowed.

"I don't know." She felt like she couldn't quite breathe normally anymore. "I-I don't know."

"I think the sickness is getting worse because that thing's coming back." Petra sounded no better. She glanced at the redhead, then carefully managed to move past her to peer around the corner. She almost choked.

There were three of them. There were _three_ of them. One in the center, which was easily the largest, and two flanking either side of it, looking no bigger than when the original Storm at EnderCon. The center one had three heads already, while the other two only had one so far. But the mere fact that there were now three Wither Storms honestly made her want to cry.

Movement caught her eye. Axel was running towards them at full speed, Jesse behind him.

"Jesse!" Axel darted around the corner, followed closely by Jesse and someone else. "You guys made it!"

"And… Gabriel?!" Her attention snapped to the newcomer, who was, no doubt, the missing warrior.

"Did you say Gabriel?" Petra glanced towards Lukas, then to the warrior. Something seemed off about him, but Olivia didn't get a chance to figure out what.

"Look out!" Jesse's call snapped their attention to the glowing purple that seemed to surround them. Startled, everyone took off, running as fast as they could away from the Storm.

She wasn't going to be able to keep this up. She already felt about ready to fall over. She was already beginning to fall behind. She struggled to keep going, to stay ahead of the Storm, to keep up with the others.

She tripped. She hit the ground, her momentum causing her to roll. Her arms were now screaming in protest at the fact that they had hit the ground so hard. She tried to push herself up again, but barely got her shoulder off the ground before she collapsed again.

She couldn't get up. She couldn't get away. Her chest tightened further, and she coughed a couple of times as a result. She tried again, pushing against the ground despite the pain it caused. She made it no further, collapsing again.

Arms wrapped around her and pulled her up, and the next thing she knew, her arm was pulled over Lukas' shoulders.

"C'mon, c'mon!" He shouted over the Storm, pulling her forwards. She struggled to stay on her feet, but Lukas continued pulling her forwards at a semi-rapid pace. The others weren't far ahead; Axel and Petra were in a similar state, and Jesse was whirling around to look at them. She appeared to glance between the two duos, then behind her.

"Horses!" She called. "Lukas, Axel, get a horse!"

Her support was transferred to a tree as Lukas darted off and tried to calm one of the horses down. She took the time to catch her breath, forcing herself to not look back at the Storm. Jesse was the first to calm a horse down, which wasn't much of a surprise. Lukas clambered onto the horse he had been chasing. Axel managed to stop one of the horses, before pulling it over to her.

"Here's the issue-" he started.

"You have no idea how to steer a horse?" She guessed. He nodded sheepishly. "You help me stay on the thing, I'll manage." He nodded once, then quite literally lifted her onto the front of the horse. She did her best to hook her hands in the reins as Axel snatched Reuben from nearby and climbed onto the horse behind her.

Jesse's horse trotted up next to them, Petra on the back of it and glancing skeptically at her while Jesse looked like she was going to oppose their plan, before she shook her head. "Y-you got this?" Olivia nodded. "C'mon!"

And with that, they took off.

She was absolutely better at this than she was at running in her current state. Wrapping her hands in the reins, while probably not a good idea most of the time, was working perfectly fine right then. She dodged a spider that got too close with ease, and while Axel was keeping her on the horse fine- she knew she needed help with that much, as her balance was basically gone- he was beginning to backseat steer.

"Come on, horses!" Lukas was nearby. Jesse retrieved her sword.

"Wh-whatever you do, don't look back!" She called. Axel shifted, then shouted. She flinched, and Jesse glanced over.

"I looked!" Olivia couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Everyone follow me!" Lukas pulled ahead, Gabriel letting out a startled yelp from his place on the back of his horse. Olivia kept an eye on them as she dodged another mob.

"Yeah! Woo-hoo! This is awesome!" Magnus cheered from behind them. Axel glanced back, based on his shifting. His one-armed grip on her torso suddenly tightened and wavered from side to side slightly.

"Axel, stop back-seat steering!" She snapped back at him through a cough.

"I can't help it, I'm getting horse-sick!" She sighed.

"It's gaining on us!" Lukas glanced back. "We've gotta move faster!" As he said that, several tractor beams shot down around them, and Olivia had to yank the reins to one side to avoid one of them. They then were forced to leap over a hole in the ground, and dodge a few more tractor beams. They were getting close to a cliff, where a bridge stretched over to the other side. Endermen were beginning to teleport in and out of the area rapidly, and Olivia did her best to duck her gaze so she didn't aggravate one.

"We just need to ride over that-!" There was an explosion right behind her, then ahead of them. Jesse pulled her horse to a stop at the edge of the cliff ahead. "... Bridge."

A tentacle slammed in front of Jesse suddenly, right as an Enderman teleported right in front of her horse. Lukas was the first to call out to her. "Jesse, look out!" The brunette scrambled to cover her eyes, and a tractor beam fell over the Enderman. The mob looked up at the Storms, letting out a screech and suddenly shot up and away. Jesse looked up as Axel climbed off of the horse and approached the broken bridge.

"The Endermen! They're slowing it down!" Soren sounded incredibly excited.

"Am I seeing Endermen attack a Wither Storm?!" Lukas glanced towards the ginger.

"Endermen move blocks, it's what they do," he responded.

"C'mon, you guys, we need to build a new bridge!" Axel's call drew their attention to the matter at hand. Jesse scrambled from her horse, careful not to knock Petra off in the process. Lukas was quick to follow, as were Soren and Magnus. Olivia, despite wanting to help, knew for a fact that she couldn't. She shared a glance with Petra as the others started rapidly building across the ravine; based on the slight annoyance in the other's gaze, she wanted to help them too.

It didn't take them long to build across, and soon enough, they were clambering back onto their respective horses. They took off almost instantly, no one saying anything at first.

Axel suddenly let out a cheer, and if she wasn't being held onto, she might have fallen off of the horse in surprise. She managed a very brief glare over her shoulder at him, and his cheering cut off with an apology.

* * *

 **AN: not necessarily the longest or smoothest chapter ever, but i'll take it.**

 **also, if you guys have questions about the story, feel free to take 'em to my tumblr, which is linked in my profile! it's easier for me to answer them there rather than here.**

 **until next time!**


	33. Pushing

Lukas had been the one to spot the cave, and Soren had been the one to find a pathway up to it. It was at the top of a cliff, with a single entrance and an obviously larger inside than they first thought, which was insanely lucky. Jesse had lead the way up to it, everyone forming a train of horses as they moved up the hill.

Now, Jesse and Lukas were working on making temporary stables for the horses, while Axel kept said horses together outside. Soren and Magnus had placed a few torches around the cave to keep anything from spawning. She, Petra, and Gabriel, on the other hand, had simply been told to go in and sit down. And while she didn't entirely want to, she obliged.

Olivia was propped up against the wall beside Petra, who had refused to sit down so far. She was watching Gabriel in a sort of confusion. He seemed… off. Something about the way he acted, the way he moved, it just seemed off. When they had first arrived at the cave, when Soren had told him to wait inside and rest, he didn't listen. But when Jesse had asked him to do the same thing, he obliged quickly. Not only that, he hadn't said a word to either of his teammates, almost like he was scared of them.

She had yet to understand any of it, but she had a feeling that someone else might know already.

She hoped someone already knew.

Heavy clicks echoing from the entrance indicated that Jesse and Lukas had finished the temporary stables, and were moving the horses inside. Axel appeared around the corner, moving to stand beside her while Soren and Magnus moved in after him, immediately trying to talk to Gabriel. It took another minute for Jesse and Lukas to finish.

There was no more than about five seconds of silence.

"W-we made it." Jesse's voice almost shook. "We actually _made_ it." Jesse herself seemed to be the only one who felt relieved, however, as Lukas folded his arms uncomfortably, and Petra let her head droop, letting out a long sigh.

"Jesse, Gabriel was saying some pretty weird stuff back on that horse." Lukas glanced at the warrior briefly, then back at the brunette. She looked at Lukas, but didn't respond.

"He might have Withersickness," Petra offered.

"I don't know," Lukas shifted, "neither you nor Olivia have acted like he's been acting."

"I-I'll…" Jesse glanced at the blond warily. "I'll talk t-to him." She approached the warrior, and her conversation became too quiet for Olivia to hear. Lukas moved to join her circle, standing across from Petra.

There was a moment where Lukas looked like he wanted to speak, but wasn't sure what to say.

"How are you two holding up?" Axel spoke up before Lukas could. Olivia didn't realize she had been dreading the question until it was asked. She and Petra shared a glance, before the redhead shrugged.

"Could be worse." Petra folded her arms, and Olivia nodded in agreement.

"I've…" She coughed. "Gotten used to it for the most part." Lukas lifted his eyebrows slightly.

"That doesn't sound… good." He folded his arms. Olivia shrugged slightly.

"It's better than not being used to it and not being able to function." Petra nodded slightly. Lukas and Axel shared a glance.

"... Which is more than I can say for some of us." Soren's words caught their attention, as they all glanced their way.

"Oh man… Ellie." Magnus turned away from his teammates. Olivia returned her gaze to the floor. "For a second, I almost managed to forget."

Lukas took on a sympathetic look. "You guys talking about Ellegaard?"

Olivia gripped her arms slightly. "I just can't believe she's gone." Her voice wavered. "Doesn't feel real." No one responded to her, though she could feel eyes on her briefly. She glanced up at Jesse; the brunette was gripping her arms, looking to the floor. Olivia couldn't see her face through her hair.

"How?!" Jesse jumped, stepping away from Soren as the architect turned to face her. "How could this have happened?!" He turned to face the majority of the group. "To lose not only a friend…" His voice lowered only slightly. Jesse's grip on her arms tightened and her head lowered again. "But a member of the Order of the Stone!" There was a long silence that followed his words.

"She was really somethin' else." Magnus looked up at his teammate, lifting his hands slightly. "Even if she did make me feel like the dumbest guy in the world sometimes." His hands dropped and he shot a semi-sympathetic glance towards Jesse. Soren placed his hands on his hips and leaned forwards slightly, then straightened and threw his hands down again.

"Grah! Getting emotional is getting us nowhere!" Jesse flinched back, gripping her arms so tight that it was only obvious then that she only had a hold on her sleeves rather than her actual arms. Soren turned and began pacing. "What I want to know is what _happened_ out there today; why is that _thing_ still alive?!" He turned around, approaching Jesse and getting in her face. Her shoulders rose slightly. "My instructions were clear! _You_ were in the middle of everything, what went wrong?!"

"Soren, none of this is Jesse's fault," Axel said firmly. Jesse glanced very briefly at him, then turned back to Soren.

"Who _cares_ whose fault it is?" He scowled. "The Command Block is still out there! And now to make matters worse, we've gone from one Wither Storm to _three_!" He whirled around and took a few steps towards the wall. "Our plan was a total failure!" He started pacing in circles. "I should have cast that foul thing into the abyss!" Olivia glanced at Jesse, taking note of the fact that she was shaking ever so slightly. "Why didn't I destroy that _cursed_ block ages ago?"

"Well…" Olivia managed to push to her feet; Axel lifted a hand as if to help her, but she ignored it. "Plan A didn't work, so the question is… What's plan B?"

"Oh, why are you asking me?!" Soren turned on her. "Am I supposed to know every last damned thing in the universe?!" Olivia narrowed her eyes. Soren huffed harshly. "I need a moment to think." The ginger turned and stormed out of the cave, silence following him out. Lukas moved away from the group to watch him leave.

"Is he always like this?" Gabriel glanced at Magnus, who snorted.

"You have no idea." Gabriel blinked, then turned to look at the cave entrance again.

"Wait… That jacket." Olivia blinked, then glanced at Lukas, who was turning around. Gabriel approached him slowly, as if he was scared of the blond. "I… recognize it."

"Lukas a-always wears th-that jacket." Jesse's voice wavered slightly, likely due to her still shaking from Soren's outburst. Gabriel glanced at her briefly.

"No, there were others wearing that same jacket when I was thrown from the monster!" Magnus approached him from behind. Gabriel shuddered, stepping away from Lukas. "... It hurts just to think about…"

Magnus placed a hand on the warrior's shoulder. "Hey, hey… It's okay, take it easy…" Gabriel turned and allowed Magnus to lead him back to the corner they had been standing in. Lukas looked at the floor for a moment, then turned to Jesse.

"Jesse, if what he said is true…" He hesitated, a look of realization flashing through his gaze. "I mean… Do you think…? I thought for sure they were gone, but..."

Olivia bit her tongue. She wanted to tell him about Maya, but based on how he glanced back at the exit, she almost felt like that would end badly. He could try to look for them, which would practically be a suicide mission, but… They were his friends, and she knew that _not_ knowing would be torture. She folded her arms and slowly moved over to stand beside Jesse.

"They aren't." Lukas' gaze snapped to her. "At least, Maya isn't."

Lukas stuttered for a second. "Y-you found Maya?" She nodded slowly.

"Yeah. She almost immediately asked where you and the other two were, and went looking for Aiden and Gill." She paused. "I was coming to tell you when the Wither Storms…" She paused, looking for the right phrase, "came back."

There was a long silence that followed her words. Lukas was staring wide-eyed at her, mouth open slightly. Olivia, promptly began to feel uncomfortable under his stare, glancing at Jesse. The shorter woman returned it with one of slight concern, then looked back at the blond. "U-um… Lukas-?"

"I have to find them."

Olivia bit her tongue again. She probably shouldn't have said something.

Jesse jolted. "Wh-what?"

"If they're out there, if they're alive…" Lukas sharply turned around. "I have to go find them." Jesse tensed, glancing at Olivia.

"Whoa…" They didn't get to try to talk Lukas out of his plan, as Petra suddenly swayed where she was standing. Axel quickly took hold of her arm. "I suddenly feel… really dizzy…"

"Easy, easy, I gotcha…" Axel eased her to the floor. She vaguely looked like she wanted to protest, but didn't seem to have the energy. After she was settled, Axel glanced up at them briefly, opening his mouth to say something, then shook his head and looked back to the redhead. Olivia shared a look with Jesse.

"You should… Y-you should rest." Jesse swallowed. "You, um… y-yeah…"

Olivia blinked slowly, then forced a small smile. "I'm fine, Jesse. Really." The brunette glanced downwards at her arms for a moment, then away from her. She seemed to struggle to speak for a long moment.

"I just…" Her voice quieted. "I-I don't want you to push yourself j-just to seem okay." Olivia's gaze softened. "I-I'm just… worried you'll push yourself too hard, and…" She swallowed hard. She didn't need to finish for Olivia to know what she meant.

"... I promise, Jesse, I'm fine." Jesse glanced up at her. "If I reach a point where I'm not, I won't push myself. I'll know when I need to stop, don't worry."

Jesse's gaze flickered to Petra for a moment, before she let out a single, soft laugh. "I-I always worry, though."

Olivia smiled lightly. "Yeah, I know you do."

Jesse glanced past her. "Can you… at least s-sit down for a bit? E-even if you're okay, a-a little rest won't hurt. W-we all need it." Olivia hesitated, then nodded slightly.

"If it'll help you," Jesse nodded once, "yeah." Olivia let out a silent sigh, turning and moving back to the wall beside Axel and Petra, settling herself on the floor again. Jesse turned and moved over to where Lukas had gone, vanishing from sight. Axel glanced over at her.

"Does Jesse know what we're doing next?" She glanced at him, then shrugged.

"No, Soren's still outside." Olivia coughed lightly. "He's the only one who can probably come up with something." Axel blinked, then sighed, leaning back against the wall.

"Sweet," he grumbled. Olivia just shrugged, leaning back against the wall and coughing again. She glanced at Petra briefly; the redhead was leaning forwards against her legs, staring at the floor.

It seemed to click with her then that everything was going wrong. Their plan to stop the Wither Storm had failed, and they had to start again. Everything was three-times worse, now, with the two additional Storms. They didn't even have a plan yet. And on top of that, Lukas was trying to leave, Gabriel couldn't remember a thing, and she and Petra were both more sick than when there had been _one_ Storm. She wasn't sure if Petra could even get up anymore, not to mention that Olivia couldn't move her fingers anymore, let alone _feel_ them-

Panic spread through her chest at that realization, and she looked at her hands. She hadn't noticed that her fingertips had been slowly littered by darker purple spots, which were no doubt indication that she was getting worse. She attempted to move them, even slightly. They barely twitched.

The fear from her situation was interrupted when Reuben's nose suddenly appeared, nudging her leg. She flinched in surprise, arms pulling away from him. He looked at her for a moment, then snorted quietly. She blinked, confusion slowly replacing the surprise. "Um… Hi, Reuben," she said softly. He blinked at her, then turned and nudged one of her hands lightly, before looking at her again, tilting his head and snorting again. He looked a little more concerned this time. She glanced at her hand, briefly, then back at Reuben with a small smile. "I'm fine, Reuben. Don't worry." He made a couple of snuffling noises, something she had never quite understood, then trotted over to Petra, repeating his little "checking in" process with her.

Jesse appeared around the corner again, looking slightly more relieved than she had before. She turned, starting to move towards her group, but was stopped almost immediately by Gabriel.

"Jesse, who _is_ this person?" She glanced at him as he gestured to Magnus, who paused in whatever he had been explaining to listen. "He keeps insulting me." Olivia did her best to hide her amusement. "One moment, I think I'm talking to a friend; and the next, I'm being made fun of!"

"Th-that's Magnus," Jesse was struggling to hide her own amusement, "h-he's a member of the Order of the Stone."

Gabriel lifted an eyebrow. "The Order of the what now?"

Jesse paused for a moment. "Th-the Order of the Stone? I-it's the greatest band o-of heroes ever assembled." Her voice had softened considerably, though why exactly, Olivia wasn't sure. Magnus grinned nonetheless.

Gabriel hummed thoughtfully. "And… how do I know him, exactly?" Magnus' grin fell. "I sense we have a history, but… I feel a need a little… reminder."

"U-uh… Y-you guys defeated the Ender Dragon together. Th-the most fearsome creature this land h-has ever seen!" Jesse seemed to be doing her best to sound excited.

"Really?" Gabriel glanced briefly at Magnus, then back to Jesse.

She nodded. "Y-yeah! Y-you're kind of a-a big deal." There was a brief silence, Gabriel's confusion never fading from his face.

"It's not working." Magnus folded his arms, sounding more discouraged than she'd ever heard him. "He doesn't remember."

"U-um…" Jesse's hands lifted slightly as she briefly glanced back, then looked back to Magnus. "T-talk to him about s-something from your past. S-something only y-you would know."

"Like what?" Magnus lifted an eyebrow. "It's been so long since we've seen each other… I'm not sure _what_ would be useful."

Jesse hesitated a moment. "T-talk about your battle with the Ender Dragon."

Magnus' eyes widened slightly, and he lifted his hands. "Oh, no, no, no, let's not-" he laughed, almost nervously- "let's not talk about that." Olivia's eyebrows furrowed slightly, suspiciously.

Jesse seemed taken aback for a few seconds. "... Wh-why not? I-it's what you're famous for."

There was a brief silence. Magnus looked hesitant; Olivia wondered if something had happened during the fight that he didn't want to remember. He eventually sighed, shoulders slumping as he gave in.

"Well, all right, then." He turned to Gabriel, eyes narrowing slightly. "The Ender Dragon... Y'see, it was _huge_! And dangerous! And…" He trailed off, looking down and hesitating for a second. "For a while there, it looked like we were goners." He looked up at Gabriel again, smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "But you know who stepped in and killed that thing?"

"Um…" Gabriel blinked, then furrowed his brows confusedly. "Was it Jesse?" The brunette standing beside them flinched slightly in surprise.

Magnus blinked. "What? No, it was _you_ , man!" He stepped closer to the warrior, patting him on the shoulder. " _You_ killed it."

"Oh." Gabriel blinked again, then smiled somewhat excitedly. "Thank you for sharing that with me. And Jesse," he turned to look at her, "thank you, too. You've been a big help here… I need to repay your kindness." His smile faltered slightly. "I'm not sure how, exactly… But I want to express my gratitude."

"I-it's no problem, r-really." Jesse waved a hand slightly. "B-but you'll get a chance e-eventually… Th-the fight's not over yet."

"Very well." Gabriel seemed content with that. He turned back to Magnus. "Now then, tell me more about this… 'Ender Dragon.'"

Magnus blinked, then rubbed the back of his head, leaning back against the wall. "Man, I don't even know where to begin…"

Reuben suddenly snorted from nearby; Olivia glanced over to where he was laying between Axel and Petra. He pushed himself up, sniffing the air momentarily and twitching his ears, before suddenly trotting quickly from the cave. Jesse jumped slightly, startled by his random take off.

"H-hey, Reuben!" She hurried after him. Olivia blinked after her, then shared a concerned glance with Axel.

"That…" Axel glanced at the entranceway. "Was weird. He doesn't like running off..." He glanced back at her. "Right? I'm not misremembering that?"

"No, he doesn't." Olivia glanced warily at the entranceway as well. She was used to Reuben wandering off a little on occasion, but he never ran off like that unless Jesse was with him. Then again, Jesse had been right behind him. She kind of wondered if he would have stopped if she hadn't been.

They sat in silence for a few moments; Gabriel and Magnus had stopped talking with each other at some point, so the only noise was an occasional click or whinny form one of the horses.

A loud, earsplitting roar shook the cave, and they all tensed. Then, Petra began struggling to her feet. Axel jolted to his and started to help her up. Olivia used the wall to push herself up, ignoring the numb twinge that shot through her hands as she touched the wall. They all quickly filed out of the cave.

The Wither Storms were close. They were way too close. Olivia folded her hands under her arms and approached the edge of the cliffside, stopping next to Reuben.

"I can't believe they found us so quickly!" Petra's voice was quiet. Olivia nodded wordlessly, swallowing hard.

"It just keeps coming for us," Axel muttered.

"We aren't safe anywhere, are we?" That was Lukas; so he didn't leave after all.

Olivia dropped her hands. "Well, we can't stand around and wait for them…"

"So what do we do?" Axel's voice got slightly louder as he presumably glanced at her.

"Guys!" All heads turned to look to the pathway past the cave. Jesse was moving quickly forwards, Soren and Ivor- wait a second, why on earth was Ivor here? "Th-there's a reason it's b-been following us! Ivor says i-it's because-!"

"Ivor!" Olivia couldn't tell if Magnus sounded happy or angry. "It _is_ you!" He approached the alchemist, folding his arms as he stopped beside Jesse. Jesse, in response, took a few steps away from them.

"Good to see you too, Magnus," Ivor responded levelly.

Gabriel followed Magnus over, holding a hand out to Ivor. "Hello. My name is Gabriel." Ivor looked at his hand in surprise, then turned slightly and glanced at Soren.

"Somebody pinch me." He spoke through his teeth. Gabriel lowered his hand as Jesse shook her head slightly.

"A-anyways. Uh, Ivor figured out that th-the Storms are following the amulet, s-so, um…" She paused, turning and continuing her approach towards Olivia and Reuben, pulling the amulet from her pocket in the process. "S-so we're gonna lure them back t-to Soren's fortress a-and destroy the Command Block with this… enchanted super-weapon."

Olivia blinked, then coughed once. "You figured all of that out just _now_?"

"The point is we're not safe." Ivor stepped past Magnus and took a few steps towards them. "Not as long as we have that amulet." Jesse looked at the amulet nervously. Olivia glanced at it. Four of the lights were glowing; the only one that wasn't was the red gem. Ellegaard's gem.

"I'll take it." Jesse flinched in surprise as Axel took ahold of the other side of the amulet. Olivia glanced at him, hoping he was joking.

She had never seen him this serious before.

"You can't!" Her voice wavered slightly.

"I _can_." He glanced at her. "And I have to."

"But you could be killed!" Olivia protested. His gaze hardened, briefly, then softened.

"We all could, Olivia." His voice gave away that he was just as scared as she was. Olivia glanced at Jesse for input, but she seemed to be at a loss for words at the moment, mouth opening and closing several times.

"I don't know about this…" Olivia returned her gaze to Axel, who gently pulled the amulet from Jesse's grip.

"I'm tired of always being the selfish one." He looked briefly at the amulet, then pocketed it.

"Axel, have you thought this through?" Olivia folded her hands under her arms again. He glanced at her.

"Of course not." He let out a silent sigh, then returned his gaze to Jesse. "You just go make that super weapon. I'll meet you back at Soren's fortress."

Jesse struggled to respond for a moment, then took a sharp breath in. "Promise you'll stay safe." Her voice seemed to shake and stay firm at the same time. Axel nodded slowly. The brunette let out the breath she had taken in. "O-okay. Okay."

"Axel shouldn't have to do this alone." Olivia jumped slightly and glanced back at Magnus. "I'm goin' with you, man!"

Axel grinned. "Nice!" There was a brief pause, before Petra took a step towards Jesse.

"I'm going with him, too." Olivia blinked at her, then glanced at Axel briefly. He looked like he wanted to protest, but Petra continued before he could. "I need to keep fighting. I can't just sit here and let you all risk your lives without me."

"Y-you'll stay safe? You won't push y-yourself too far?" Jesse forced out.

Petra nodded firmly. "Yeah. I promise."

Jesse nodded slowly. "Okay. Yeah." The brunette turned back to facing the general group.

"Well…" Gabriel lifted a hand warily. "I'm going with Jesse. I pledged to help, and that's what I must do." Jesse nodded once.

Olivia cleared her throat. "I'm going with you, too." Jesse glanced at her. "If Petra can keep going, so can I." The brunette nodded again.

There was a long silence as everyone glanced between each other. Lukas finally muffled a sigh, rubbing one arm. "My friends are still out there somewhere."

"Then you must do this." Soren spoke softly. "For them." Another silence followed, but was shorter than the last.

"E-everyone be careful." Jesse almost sounded choked up; Olivia couldn't blame her if she was. "T-take good care of y-yourselves."

Axel took a second to give her a one-armed hug. "You too." Jesse nodded slowly, then followed Lukas and Soren to retrieve the horses. Olivia took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly.

The second and final battle was coming close, and Olivia just hoped everyone made it this time.


	34. Travel

It had been nearly a week of just travelling before someone finally voiced everyone's thoughts.

"How long is it supposed to take to get to the Far Lands?" Lukas called forwards. Ivor glanced back at him from where he was perched behind Soren.

"If I've calculated correctly, from where we started," Ivor placed a hand on his beard, "it should be another three weeks."

Olivia spluttered. "Three _weeks_?!"

"They are called the _Far Lands_ for a reason." Ivor turned back around. Olivia made a face, glancing back at Lukas, who returned it with his own irritated glance. She then let out a long sigh and turned to face forwards again.

They continued to move at the leisurely pace the horses had chosen. Olivia was currently perched behind Jesse, Soren and Ivor in front of them, with Lukas and Gabriel behind. Reuben was sprawled out across the saddle of the last horse, which was attached to Lukas' by the reigns. She and Gabriel had originally been on that horse, with Reuben perched behind Jesse, but after Olivia had literally fallen off of it, the others had decided it would be best to switch around.

She had attempted to assure them that she was fine, but at this point, she was pretty sure they would've taken her back to the cave if they could.

There wasn't much to do on their trip. Everyone was too nervous or touchy to hold a conversation for very long, and other than that, they had nothing else to do. Well, other than think about everything that was happening, but Olivia knew that she didn't want to do that, and figured the others would likely be on the same page.

That said, it didn't mean she always avoided it. In fact, she had thought about it quite a bit. Not that she wanted to; the thoughts would force their way in and refuse to leave her alone until she gave in. Often times she managed to break them off quickly; with all the stress and fear and pain that it brought to her attention, she was almost certain she'd start crying if she thought too hard. And since she was right behind Jesse, there was no way she'd be able to hide it if she did.

So, other than falling off of her horse, nothing interesting had come out of this so far.

Olivia glanced up at the sky. The sun was at the horizon; it was getting close to Spawn. If they wanted to stop for the night, they'd want to stop soon to avoid any mobs. Personally, the idea of avoiding nighttime monsters sounded more than ideal to her. And she was pretty sure she wasn't the only one, as Jesse shifted in front of her, then sighed.

"I-it's getting late." Jesse started to pull the horse to a stop. "W-we should probably bed down f-for the night." Soren's horse slowed to a stop ahead of them, then turned sideways so he could glance back.

"Yes, I suppose we should." He glanced at the horizon behind them. Despite the fact that they knew the Wither Storms weren't following them, they all had been on their guard for them the entire trip.

Lukas pulled his horse to a stop beside them. "Plus, right here seems like a good place anyways." Jesse nodded as the blond slid down to the ground, Gabriel quick to follow him down. Jesse hooked her leg over and slid down as well, immediately turning back to her as Olivia copied her. When her feet met the grass, Jesse quickly moved to support her if needed, but it was unnecessary, and Olivia straightened again.

Which wasn't far, considering she was automatically curling in on herself due to the pain in her arms.

"Gabriel, you help Olivia keep track of the horses while the rest of us work on a shelter," Lukas instructed as Jesse moved over to help Reuben off of his perch. Gabriel nodded once.

The others were quick to hurry off to start their work. Olivia glanced down at the grass below her feet, then at the rest of the field. The grass was uneven, some places having patches that went to her knees while others barely had anything. Likely due to the flock of sheep that was huddled a ways away.

She watched the sheep in quiet reminisce. Now that she thought about it, the Building Competition felt like ages ago. It probably was; they'd been running around like crazy for a while, and she had no clue how long it had been since it'd started. Even with it feeling like forever ago, it was still weird to think about how she could go from completely fine to… this. Curled in on herself, her hands no longer even slightly functioning, and everyone throwing her worried glances every so often.

In twenty-four hours, she had gone from okay to not. She honestly wanted to just go back to the way things were. Even if just to when she could at least _move_ her hands.

She finally gave in and plopped down, huffing slightly in annoyance at herself. Reuben was quick to trot over to her, giving a small snort before settling next to her.

This was what would happen every time they stopped. Each time she sat down becoming sooner and sooner. Reuben would always come over to keep her company until the others were done. She had tried a couple of days ago to pet him or something, more to assure herself that her hands still worked, but she had wound up failing miserably. On top of that, it had hurt to touch him, so she wasn't too inclined to try again.

A little brown rabbit hopped by, pausing as it passed in front of her to look at her and sniff the air briefly. Olivia immediately took notice of the severe indent in its ear; it had probably gotten into a fight with another rabbit or something. Reuben leaned forwards slowly, trying to sniff it curiously. It, in response, did the same thing, but the second they were about six inches away, the rabbit darted off through the grass and out of sight. Reuben huffed disappointedly, and leaned back again. Olivia couldn't help but smile at the scene.

Reuben had tried to befriend just about every animal they had come across. only one of his attempts had been successful, with a little lamb they had run into a few days prior. The two had started running around excitedly while Jesse and the others worked on the shelter, and the lamb had run away when it had accidentally rammed into Lukas' leg. Reuben had been thoroughly disappointed when the wad of black wool had vanished into a sea of black and white.

This time, though, Reuben didn't try to run after it. He simply plopped down again, watching the grass where the rabbit had vanished.

The others were getting close to done; Olivia could see Jesse pulling herself out of the hole in the ground a short distance away. They had figured out that if they built a dirt hut every night, they'd have to gather materials every night as well. Lukas had been the one to offer the plan they had gone with. They would dig out a little underground shelter one night, then build a hut the next night with the materials they'd ultimately gathered. They had built a shelter the night before, so this time around, it involved digging.

Lukas pulled himself up after her, digging through his inventory momentarily, before retrieving a fencepost and found a place nearby to place it down. He motioned to Gabriel, who pulled the horses over so they could tie them to the fencepost. They had figured out that mobs won't attack horses unless a person is riding it, so leaving them out in the open wasn't too big of a deal. Usually, they'd build some sort of roof for them in case it rained. They always seemed to have enough materials to do so, anyways.

While Lukas and Gabriel took care of the horses, Jesse moved over to Olivia and Reuben. Reuben perked up when she reached them, hopping to his feet instantly. She smiled lightly, leaning down and patting his head for a moment, then straightening slightly and offering a hand to Olivia. As much as she wanted to protest the offered help, she bit her tongue and lifted an arm to her. Jesse carefully took hold of it and pulled her to her feet while Olivia did her best to ignore the sharp ache that appeared on contact. Jesse released her as soon as she found her footing, though her hand hovered for a moment longer, then lowered to her side. They then slowly moved over to the hole that was the entrance to their shelter, easily descending into it.

Soren and Ivor had already put together a fire pit in the center of the shelter, and were, unsurprisingly, quietly arguing about something. Olivia didn't bother to try and guess what it was about this time around, simply moving into the shelter and settling against a wall. Reuben settled beside her again as Jesse retrieved her flint and steel to start the fire. She pushed the tools together, and the spark produced hit the netherrack, causing the entire top of the block to be engulfed by a flame in less than a second. Jesse eased back, pocketing her tools as she settled on Reuben's other side. Lukas and Gabriel entered the hut a few moments later, Lukas blocking off the entrance with spare dirt blocks as the sun seemed to vanish from the sky.

The near-unbearable silence that had covered the group like a blanket for the past week returned. Olivia absentmindedly began to chew on her bottom lip to ignore it, watching the fire as she half-draped her arms around her knees. Her mind began to drift, trying to imagine what the Ivor's little lab place might look like.

Soren's Happyland in the End came to mind, and she lightly shook the thought away.

"How many biomes do you think we'll go through? T-to get to the Far Lands, I mean." Olivia blinked out of her thoughts and glanced at Jesse, watching her for a moment before shrugging.

"I'd say anywhere between five and… I don't know, twenty?" Jesse blinked. "It took us a week to get out of that forest, and this prairie is so thin that you can see the next biome without leaving the forest. We could only go through a few, or we could go through several."

Jesse gave a quiet hum. "Yeah, I guess." There was another stretch of silence. Olivia assumed the conversation was over, beginning to drift back into her absentminded habits, before Jesse interrupted her thoughts again. "H-how are you doing?"

Olivia sat silently for a moment, assessing her current state. Her arms hurt, her hands were almost completely numb at this point, and altogether looked terrifyingly similar to if they were literally rotting. Which, for all she knew, they could be. Besides the obvious, she was exhausted, the pain worsened by an endless ache in her stomach- whether that was from the sickness or hunger, she wasn't sure. She felt abnormally weak, which was driving her up the wall, breathing or focusing was harder than it should be, and moving her hands at all was out of the question at this point.

Of course, she didn't want to tell Jesse any of this. She didn't want to tell _anyone_ this. But she couldn't hide all of it anymore. She could hide most of it, but she really couldn't hide the fact that her arms had literally gone numb with pain. Not with how they looked.

"I'm… I'm holding on," Olivia mumbled. Jesse blinked sympathetically at her. "I'm not gonna lie, it's… painful. But I'm managing."

"I… kinda wonder if it'd be better for you to be in that cave." Jesse leaned on her legs slightly. "I-I'd probably be really worried this whole time, but… A-at least you'd be able to rest. Y-you wouldn't be pushing yourself like this."

Olivia's face fell to a deadpanned expression. "You're not saying you blame yourself because _I_ said I was coming with you, are you?"

Jesse blinked. Olivia's question had caught Lukas' attention. "N-not… Kinda…?" Olivia lifted an eyebrow, and Jesse sighed. "If something happens to you out here, then yes. B-but not really now."

"If anything happens to me, it'll probably be my own fault." Olivia leaned back against the wall. "Well, it will be no matter what, since I was the one who decided to come."

"I don't think it matters who's fault it is for what if it hasn't happened yet." Lukas cut in. Jesse and Olivia both glanced at him, before Olivia shrugged slightly.

"Point taken." The end of her agreement was cut off by a couple of mild coughs, and she cleared her throat.

Jesse glanced at Reuben briefly, reaching over and scratching behind his ears. He gave a few content snuffling sounds in response. "Yeah… I-I should probably stop focusing on what-ifs."

"That's what you do," Olivia teased mildly. Jesse shot her a playful glare, shaking her head lightly and forcing down the smile that was tugging at her lips. There was a brief span of silence, though it felt a little less unwelcoming and tense as it had before.

"What d'you think the it look like?" Olivia questioned, glancing over at the other two. They both glanced at her, then at each other. "Where we're going, I mean."

"Hmm…" Lukas leaned back against the wall. "I dunno. I'm kind of just expecting some house hidden in a forest somewhere." Jesse nodded in agreement.

"I keep expecting it to be hidden away. Whatever I hear about it makes it sound secretive." Olivia shrugged lightly.

Lukas hummed. "Yeah, I guess that'd make sense." A pause. "Maybe it's underground."

Olivia snorted slightly. "Maybe."

* * *

 **AN: hi it's been almost a month. sorry about that. i had a lot of school to work on over the past month so the fic just. got pushed back.**

 **luckily the semester's over so i have time to do stuff like write this again.**

 **until next time!**


	35. Swamp

A low grunt broke the silence. "My rear end is profoundly sore…" Olivia spared a glance back at Gabriel, then let out a sigh and a small nod of agreement.

"It feels like we've been riding forever," she muttered. Jesse shrugged lightly in response, though any other response was quickly cut off when Soren and Ivor's mumbled argument suddenly rose in volume.

"I'm telling you, we _cannot_ go to the Far Lands," Soren snapped. "They're not just the edge of our world, but the limits of our comprehension!"

"Oh, please," Ivor scoffed. "The Far Lands are just a happy accident. Nature's way of keeping life interesting."

Soren shook his head sharply. "No, no, no. They are perilous and unpredictable!" Olivia glanced back to share a confused look with Lukas. "Perlin noise, floating points…" Soren paused, as if he almost said something he hadn't meant to say. "These are _not_ matters to be toyed with!"

"You're scaring everyone, Soren," Ivor hissed at the ginger. Soren glared back at him.

"And for good reason!"

"Um…" Their attention was turned to Jesse, who had lifted a hand warily. "W-what are the Far Lands?"

Soren's gaze turned incredulous. "Are you… being _serious_?" Jesse nodded warily, causing Ivor and Soren to share a glance, before Soren returned his gaze to the path. "The Far Lands lie at the very edge of all things. Where logic… gives way to chaos." Jesse spared a confused glance behind her, then returned it to Soren. "They're a dangerous place to visit…" He then glared back at Ivor. "And a _ridiculous_ place to build a laboratory!"

Ivor snorted. "Just wait until you see it."

Olivia huffed. "Do those two _never_ stop arguing?"

"I don't know, I'm too hungry to care," was Gabriel's only response.

"Yeah," Lukas muttered. "I'm starving."

Olivia sighed, resting her forehead on Jesse's back for a moment. "We all are…" She sat up again. "Maybe we should turn back…?"

The horses were pulled to a stop, a couple of them snorting in response. They turned so they made a sort of circle. "Now isn't the time," Ivor responded quietly. "Swamps are too dangerous. You never know what might be lurking around."

An odd noise echoed through the area, one that Olivia couldn't put a name to. Jesse tensed.

"What was that?!" Gabriel had gone wide-eyed, looking around fearfully. It was kind of weird to see him act so nervous.

Soren blinked sheepishly. "My stomach." There was a moment where they all simply glanced between each other.

"Well," Olivia carefully leaned back. "I don't know about you guys, but I could use a break."

"Yeah, I-I think we should stop for a little bit." Jesse nodded slightly. Soren nodded once, then climbed down from his horse, Ivor right behind him. Jesse slid down quickly, then turned and offered a hand to Olivia, who took it on the way down. She landed, stumbled slightly, then straightened, giving Jesse a small smile. She followed the others to a spot near the water, sitting down against a small ledge between Soren and Lukas. Ivor pulled Jesse aside for a moment, talking to her quietly about something or other.

Olivia hung her head forwards, moving her knees up so she could rest her head against them, and let her eyes slide closed. She was getting worse, there was no denying it. She was exhausted, feeling both sleepy and as if she'd just run a mile almost constantly; half of the time, she ended up dozing off against Jesse, no matter how hard she tried not to. Though she was pretty sure she'd rather end up asleep and not deal with the pain that was basically echoing through her whole body. She couldn't feel anything in her hands or wrists anymore; all recognition of pain or temperature had gone completely by now.

Jesse had expressed her concern a few times now; Olivia was pretty sure she couldn't say she was fine anymore. Well, not without disbelieving glances. Jesse had actually, more or less, snapped at her the last time she tried to, firmly pointing out that she really wasn't okay. And as much as she wanted to, Olivia couldn't argue otherwise. She had tried to find a way to, but couldn't find the words once she noticed the other was tearing up a bit.

She wasn't fine. She was far from it. She couldn't deny it anymore.

But she needed to keep going. It didn't really matter how she was feeling anymore, she couldn't stop. There was too much for her to lose.

Despite that, the group had been surprisingly calm and relaxed for the time crunch they were in. Olivia had managed to hold a few conversations about something other than the storm with Jesse and Lukas; there was one they'd had where they spoke for ages about the Building Competitions over the years, discussing the competition the Ocelots hadn't participated in.

The topic of building had caught Soren's attention, and they ended up explaining the Building Competitions to him. He had seemed rather excited at the idea, though when Lukas mentioned that he could go to one sometime, he had immediately brushed off the idea. None of them should have been surprised, seeing as they had found him secluded in a wool world.

They had wound up describing as many builds as they could remember to him, and he had managed to explain what some of the more vague builds were supposed to be. Surprisingly, most of the odd ones had a purpose, though Olivia couldn't recall what they were at the moment. Some of them hadn't really been described, and Soren had been rather confused by their descriptions. One of the overly vague ones that had confused Soren got a comment from Ivor about something or other, which had elicited a few snickers from the rest of them.

They had also tried to jog Gabriel's memory several times. They had even tried to get him to remember EnderCon, despite the fact that they hadn't seen much of his presentation. It had almost worked; he had remembered very fuzzy details for a moment, then forgot again. This had happened a few times with different events, some Olivia had known about and some she didn't know.

She hadn't realized how distracted she was by her thoughts until something bumped her leg and she jumped slightly in surprise. Her head snapped up again, trying to find what had hit her.

Apparently it was a hand, as Jesse was in front of her, one hand near her leg and the other holding out a half of a potato. She glanced at the potato, then at Jesse.

"S-sorry." Jesse smiled sheepishly. "Didn't mean to scare you. Just figured you'd want t-to eat."

Olivia blinked again. "Oh, yeah. Thanks." She moved her hands slightly and Jesse dropped the potato half into them. With a small nod of thanks towards the brunette, she carefully moved it to her mouth to nibble at it. Jesse stood straight, tossing a different half of a potato to Lukas, who almost dropped it. She then turned and wandered off again, disappearing in the swampy area.

As she ate, Olivia found herself zoning out again. This entire trip to the Far Lands had been both rather interesting, and horridly boring. They had seen plenty of biomes that they never expected to see; one had clay and dust coating everything, all of the cliffs striped with different colors. Another was covered in snow and freezing cold, with tall towers of ice scattered around the biome.

She had really enjoyed seeing a lot of different places, but even then, it had been awfully quiet and boring. No one really conversed at all besides Soren and Ivor arguing, so there was very little to do besides watch the terrain and think. The former was alright, she supposed, but the latter was something she didn't really want to do.

There had been one or two conversations about the biomes they had gone through; Soren had apparently been to most- if not all- of the kinds of biomes they had traveled through, so he had known quite a bit about a few of them. She figured he had stories tied to some of them; a few of the descriptions had an air of reminisce, and another few had a tone of melancholy. Those descriptions had also caused Ivor to act a little oddly; defensive expression faltering some to the same things.

She wasn't sure how long she had zoned out this time, but it seemed to be long enough that Jesse had left and come back after finding something. The brunette was scrambling up from a small ditch nearby, eyes frantic. Olivia sat up a little straighter, placing her hands against the ground in case she needed to stand up.

"We need to leave." Jesse's voice was trembling. "Now."

"What?" Lukas dropped his arms from where they were folded in front of him. "Why?"

"There's a witch." Ivor appeared beside Jesse, making the brunette flinch slightly. Olivia tensed nervously. "They do not appreciate trespassers. We need to get out of-"

He was cut off by a splash potion flying just past his head and smashing against the ground at everyone's feet. Red swirls surrounded them, Olivia trying to scoot away from it instantly. Reuben let out a terrified squeal, scrambling away. Hands wrapped around her arm, and she was more-or-less yanked to her feet by Lukas.

"She's here!" Soren took a step back, glancing back past Jesse. The witch was standing behind her, letting out a laugh. Honestly, she was pretty sure she could've lived without ever seeing a witch. They were incredibly creepy; Olivia stepped back, despite the fact that it was a good few yards away from her.

Despite her fear, a brief burst of defensive adrenaline pushed a shout from her throat as the witch moved to grab another potion. "Oh no you don't!" The witch's attention moved to her, and any courage she had vanished. Jesse retrieved her sword quickly, sparing a glance back at them.

"Watch out for her potions!" The brunette inched forwards, ducking as the witch threw another potion at her. The potion sailed past her, crashing to the ground where the last one had. Olivia took a step back to avoid the effects, as did the others. Jesse inched forwards again, getting close enough to the witch to whack it with her sword. The witch stumbled back a few steps, then retrieved another potion. Jesse whacked it again before it could throw the glass in its hand, knocking it over this time, which allowed her to finish it off.

Jesse backed up, glancing back over her shoulder. "W-we should get out of here, while there's-"

She was cut off by an arrow shooting past her face, and Jesse whipped around again, hand flying up to her face. Olivia looked over to the hill behind them, spotting a skeleton standing on it, arrow notched on the bowstring again. It was backed by four other skeletons, all in the process of notching arrows of their own.

"Oh no…" Olivia tried to subdue the trembling in her arms. "Skeletons…!" Hands met her shoulders, and she was turned towards a small space behind a tree to hide behind. She and the others edged over to it, ducking down swiftly and covering their heads with their arms. The horses, however, took off running off to some other place in a blind panic.

A sinister laugh rang out from nearby, and she could hear Soren inhale sharply. "Witches _and_ skeletons? That's a deadly combination…" Olivia peered past her arm at the ginger. "Her potions combined with their arrows…? Oh, we'll all be killed! We can't win this!" Olivia's arms lowered slightly so she could glance at Jesse. The brunette was watching the skeletons warily, shoulders tense. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

"But they've seen us!" Olivia returned her gaze to Soren as she spoke. "They'll just follow us!" There was a brief silence that followed her statement.

"The rest of you, go!" Her gaze snapped to Ivor, who had his back pressed against a tree. "I'll hold them off!"

"What?" Soren stood abruptly. "Ivor, no-!"

Ivor made a face. "There's no time to argue. Just head for the corner of the glitch wall!"

"The _what_ wall-?" Lukas started. Ivor cut him off by jumping out into the open.

"Hey you, witch! You're not the only one that can throw a potion!" He produced a potion that looked exactly the same as the ones the witch had thrown, chucking it right at the closest skeleton. It shattered against its skull, knocking it over and sending it into a puff of smoke. He quickly produced another, tossing it at another skeleton, before turning and darting away.

His attempt to distract the mobs worked, as they followed him. A hand wrapped around Olivia's wrist and started pulling her into a run in the other direction. "Come on!" Jesse called back, spurring the others into a run after them.


	36. Far Lands

Olivia wasn't too fond of running in the first place, but having Withersickness made it about a hundred times worse. They had stopped a good few minutes ago, just outside of the swamp, and she was still too exhausted to stand on her own. Jesse was acting as her support for the moment, though they weren't moving anywhere just yet.

"So… How far is this 'glitch wall'?" Lukas glanced at Soren. The ginger cleared his throat.

"Actually…" He motioned to his left. "It's right there." Olivia followed his motion, and her eyes widened.

A gigantic wall made up of too many materials to count stretched up way past the clouds, openings resembling the ridges in tree bark curling around in it's surface. The thing seemed to fold not far along, moving towards them like a corner. Trees and odd shapes she couldn't name took up the space between them and the wall, though they all looked odd. Thin waterfalls fell from random places in the wall as well, often curving with the indents. One of the openings was surrounded by lights that, despite the absurdity of everything else, didn't look natural.

"Welcome to the Far Lands, my friends," said Soren in a semi-dramatic tone.

"Holy _cow_ …" Olivia's voice barely came out through her awe.

"Yeah." Lukas nodded lightly. Soren motioned with a hand, and the group slowly started forwards. Olivia retrieved her arm from Jesse, shooting her a small smile when she glanced her way, then carefully folded her arms over her middle. As they walked, Olivia found herself warily watching the wall, as if something would come flying out of it.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" Soren glanced back at Jesse. "Like a monument to chaos itself." Jesse nodded lightly, swallowing hard as she glanced over the wall again.

"Who built this thing?" Olivia pulled her gaze from the wall to briefly glance at Soren.

"No one built it." Soren shrugged. "It's a natural phenomenon. An intersection of the two great walls that mark the edge of our world."

"Incredible," Gabriel murmured.

Olivia sighed. "You can say that again."

"Incredible!" Olivia glanced at the warrior.

"... My fault. Should've seen that coming." Both Jesse and Lukas snorted.

"Honestly, I'd feel a bit better about this if I wasn't still hungry." Lukas rolled his shoulders in slight discomfort.

"Well," Gabriel glanced over at the blond, "at least Jesse found those potatoes."

Olivia looked levelly at the warrior. "That may be the saddest sentence ever uttered." Gabriel just shrugged in response.

"I dunno," Lukas mused, "I'm pretty sure I've heard worse." Olivia rolled her eyes lightly.

They reached the wall soon enough; Olivia noted that there was carpet on the ground in little patches, which became bigger the closer they got. Parts of the trees were made of stone, yet they still appeared to be thriving. There were small fountains made only of water that seemed to start in the air, falling down and hitting some ore, but not spreading out like it should. Several lights were scattered around, most of them floating in the air. Olivia then took notice of noises she hadn't heard before; footsteps belonging to no one, something breaking, leaves crunching... It was sort of creepy.

"This way, I suspect." Soren motioned to an opening, one surrounded by lights and carpet covering the ground completely. Olivia lifted a hand warily, eyeing the opening as Soren started through it, seeming to not notice everyone else's hesitation.

Lukas let out a small sigh. "I wish Axel were here. He'd just… tell some joke, and we'd all feel better about this."

Olivia glanced his way sympathetically, swallowing down a cough. "I know what you mean."

Jesse just shook her head and motioned forwards. "C'mon." The brunette started forwards into the opening after Soren. Olivia shared a glance with Lukas before following her.

Soren had waited for them, apparently, as he wasn't all that far into the tunnel, and they caught up with him easily. The tunnel itself wasn't horridly long; they could already see the other side of it. No one spoke as they walked, and Olivia folded her arms in.

The other end had a little ledge, before a small, dim space, lit by natural light that she was pretty sure shouldn't be there. At the other edge of the clearing was a set of gigantic walls made up of varying stone materials. Massive holes were scattered through them, allowing them to see more walls.

Olivia carefully stepped down off of the ledge, looking up at the walls and allowing her arms to drop again. "Is this… a _maze_?"

"It would appear so." Soren moved closer to the walls to examine them. "A massive one, by the looks of it." He turned sideways, glancing back at them. "If Ivor used the Command Block to build this, it could hold _unspeakable_ peril."

"So…" Lukas folded his arms uncomfortably. "Maybe we _shouldn't_ walk into the worlds hardest maze without a guide?"

Soren just sighed. "Unfortunately, this appears to be the only way forward."

"There _has_ to be another way!" Olivia piped up. "A secret door, or… Some way around." She glanced at Jesse, who seemed to be between warily eyeing the walls ahead and going unfocused. After a moment, Olivia just shook her head. "No, we aren't doing this. We're finding another way through; I'm not risking it." Jesse nodded at her after a moment, tearing her eyes from the walls long enough to do so, before the group split up to look around.

Olivia moved over to one of the walls in order to examine it, though she quickly discovered that it wasn't any more interesting up close. The rocks making up the cobblestone and stone bricks were rough-looking and jagged, sharp points sticking out here and there. It was almost nothing like what she was used to; stuff like this was smoothed out so no one hurt themselves while using it.

She turned to scan the rest of the group. Reuben was settled nearby, watching the tunnel they had entered through. Soren was examining the other wall with hands on his hips, while Gabriel was seated on the ground just past him. Lukas was examining the ground a little ways away from them, and she guessed Jesse was at the other end of the clearing, as Olivia had lost sight of her.

Olivia let out a long breath, looking at her wall again for a moment, then glanced down at her hands. As she did, an odd noise emanated from the maze. She replaced her hands against her torso, then glanced at the entrance to the maze through narrowed eyes. Soren had stopped looking at the other wall, peering into the maze as well.

There was a long silence before the noise repeated, a little louder than last time. She couldn't put a name to it; it sounded kind of like a groan, but it was difficult to tell with how much it echoed. If it was a groan, they could be in trouble, as that could only mean zombies.

She hoped it wasn't a groan.

The noise repeated another time, louder again. Reuben moved to peer into the maze as well, snorting softly. There were a few seconds where it was completely silent; even the footsteps and other noises the others would occasionally make were missing. Then, after those few seconds had ended, Olivia spotted something moving back in the darkness of the maze, coming right for them.

A horde of zombies, and a fast-moving one at that. Just like she had thought.

God damn it.

"Everyone! En garde!" Soren backed away towards her, retrieving a sword as he did. Gabriel shifted to his feet, following after him rather than staying where he was and retrieving his own sword while shooting a wary glance at the oncoming horde. Olivia scrambled backwards a couple of steps, turning her torso away from the horde slightly; it seemed to be more to protect her arms than anything. Jesse, who was standing near a pile of gravel at the far end of the clearing, whirled around, eyes widening at the sight of the horde.

"There's too many!" Olivia's voice rose in pitch as she spoke; a few zombies broke away and started for Jesse. "We can't fight them all-!" She was cut off by one of the closer zombies suddenly lunging for her, grabbing ahold of her arm. She tried to pull away, but it's grip was too tight, and she ended up pulling it closer, allowing it to grab her other arm. Olivia pushed against it this time, managing to keep the rest of it away from her.

Something rammed into it from the side, dislodging one of its hands. Olivia then managed to yank her other arm away from it and shove it back a few steps. Reuben gave a huff from where he stood just in front of her, though his fierceness quickly melted back into fear again.

"Climb the vines!" Jesse's voice was barely audible over the chorus of groans that the zombies were producing. Olivia glanced in her general direction, then at the wall beside her. Sure enough, there were plenty of vines leading up to the top of the wall just beside her. Not even pausing to consider the likelihood of her even making it up the wall, she followed Lukas over to the wall and grabbed ahold of the vines as best as she could. Lukas grabbed Reuben, tucking him under his arm and starting easily up the wall.

Olivia barely made it out of the zombies' reach before she started to wear out. She wasn't even halfway up the wall, and while the adrenaline was helping her, it wouldn't last. The others were already nearly at the top. She took in a breath and forced herself upwards; she managed to get close enough to the top for Lukas to drop down onto the vines again, holding onto the top while he reached down and took ahold of her arm. She managed to make it to the top with his help, and pulled herself onto the maze walls.

"Well," Soren sounded out of breath as he spoke, "that worked. I suppose." Lukas helped Olivia pull herself to her feet, nearly losing her balance in the process. As she did, she caught sight of Jesse, standing on the far wall and watching them. She waved.

"Yeah… I guess…" Olivia motioned towards Jesse, causing the others to follow her movement to the brunette.

"Well now what?" Olivia had to force herself not to jump at the sound of Lukas' voice, as it was much louder than hers or Soren's had been. Plus, he was right behind her. "We're all separated!" Jesse glanced down at the sea of zombies below, then at the other end of the maze.

"L-let's head that way," she motioned to the far end; Olivia glanced over to see a small hut in a patch of sunlight quite a ways away. "W-we can find somewhere where the paths connect, a-and go from there." Soren nodded, and turned around, as he was basically at a dead end. Gabriel followed suit, and Olivia swore she heard Jesse say something else, but when she looked at the brunette, she was already walking off. She let out a sigh and turned around, slowly following after Lukas as he tried to find which connecting wall wasn't a dead end.

Once they got going, if it weren't for the fact that she was still dizzyingly tired, Olivia might have found something like this kind of fun. The way Reuben kept mock-glaring at Lukas and Soren when they found dead ends, causing Lukas to shrug indifferently and Soren to look rather uncomfortable when they turned around, seemed to be pretty amusing to both her and Gabriel. Though it was becoming harder for her to actually witness the act, as the dizziness refused to leave her alone. Everytime she tried to laugh at it, she ended up in a coughing fit, and that only made it worse. If it weren't for the fact that they had to be single-file, she had a feeling someone would be trying to help her at this point.

They turned around as Lukas lead them to another dead end, Olivia barely catching Reuben's playful glare as she turned. Instead of getting to at least smile at the pig's attempt to lighten the mood, a wave of dizziness- worse than before- hit her head-on, causing her to grimace and push a hand to her head.

It snapped away when she realized everything had tilted too severely for her to catch herself before she fell right off the side of the wall. A set of hands wrapped around one wrist in an attempt to catch her, but whoever had grabbed her only ended up following her down.

Her breath was knocked clean from her lungs when she hit the floor, but it took her several seconds to gather her bearings enough to fight off the black that was threatening the edges of her vision. It took another few seconds for her to register a low groan beside her, and then a few more for her lungs to function again. She started coughing harshly, rolling onto her side in order to keep from choking.

"Yeah…" She barely heard Lukas over her own coughing. "Maybe trying to balance on a one-block-wide wall wasn't a good idea." Olivia's coughs began to subside, finally, but she still couldn't manage a response. A low, quiet laugh indicated an oncoming attempt at lightening the situation. "You could've just said you needed to get down instead of falling off, you know." It was an awful attempt, and Olivia pried an eye open to glare at him. She started to try and push herself up, but didn't get too far on her own before Lukas helped her the rest of the way up into a sitting position. "You okay?" They shifted around so she could lean back against the wall.

Olivia took a moment to take in a breath. "Yeah," she wheezed, "just got kinda dizzy for a second there."

"That sounds like an understatement to me." Lukas shifted around so he was kneeling partially in front of her. She just shrugged in response.

A set of thumps nearby caught their attention, and they both looked over to see Soren having jumped down and falling back on impact. Gabriel followed a moment later, Reuben tucked under his arm. Reuben wriggled free before Gabriel could fall on him, immediately trotting over to her and letting out a couple of concerned snuffling noises as he sniffed at her arms. Olivia gently pulled her arms away from him, and he resorted to looking at her worriedly.

"Maybe we should take a little break." Lukas suggested mildly to the two Order members as they stood up again. "I don't think it's a good idea to push her right now."

"I'm _fine_ , Lukas." Olivia attempted to shoot a glare this way, but it ended up too shaky to do much more than make the blond furrow his brows further.

"Don't tell me Petra's rubbing off on you," he responded flatly. Olivia sighed.

"What do you _want_ me to say? That I'm dying?" This caused Lukas to straighten slightly, eyes widening. "Because that's probably about as truthful as I can get." She leaned forwards, bringing her legs up to rest her head on her knees. A long silence followed her words, and she eventually lifted her head again, sighing again. "Sorry. I know you all mean well, I'm just… not good at solely depending on people, I guess."

It took Lukas a solid thirty seconds to respond. "Yeah. I get that." He paused, leaning back so he was sitting down. "And I get you're trying to keep going so no one worries. Petra too. But honestly, that's just making everyone more worried." Olivia just dropped her head back onto her knees.

"That's how Jesse got you to stay behind, isn't it?" She didn't need to look at him to know that he flinched. "I mean, I'm glad you didn't go out there in a sense. That was way too dangerous to take on alone. But…" She paused for a moment. "I can imagine it's hard to know your friends are alive, but not know where they are."

Lukas seemed to struggle to respond. "I guess. B-but Jesse made a good point, too. We're helping them by trying to fight those Storms." Olivia lifted her head enough to look at him. "But you can't help anyone if you push yourself too hard. You're allowed to need a break, you know." Olivia opened her mouth to respond, but was promptly cut off by Soren.

"If you two are done having your little moment," the way he said "moment" caused Olivia to glare at the ginger; she could tell Lukas was doing the same, "we should probably keep going. There's still a lot of wandering ahead of us if we want to catch up with Jesse."

Lukas pushed himself to his feet, brushing off his front automatically before offering a hand to Olivia. "Yeah, you've got a point." Olivia took his offered hand, and was pulled to her feet cleanly. "You okay to keep going?"

Olivia nodded lightly. "Yeah. Let's get going." The group started forwards, though Olivia hesitated for a second after a couple of steps. "Hey, Lukas?" The blond paused and glanced back at her. "Thanks."

Lukas smiled lightly. "Anytime."

* * *

 **AN: tfw you don't update for over a month, then don't update for almost a month again,,,,**

 **sorry. chapter was giving me trouble, plus it was end of semester/beginning of second semester so i was swamped with work. i'm trying to get back on top of this :3c**

 **until next time!**


	37. A-MAZE-ing

They had been wandering the maze for a while now, and the only interesting thing that had happened was that Soren, Gabriel, and eventually, Lukas had all gotten separated from Olivia and Reuben. They had attempted to look for them, but quickly gave up on it when they forgot where they had lost them. They were now wandering a darker corridor of the maze; one downside of not being on top of the walls was that they had no idea where they were. Olivia was pretty sure that she was near lava, as it was a lot hotter than it had been before.

Reuben paused his slow trot beside her, sniffing the air momentarily. Olivia glanced down at him, barely pulling herself to a stop before the pig suddenly started trotting forwards at a much faster pace down the corridor. Olivia blinked, then started after him.

"Hey- Reuben, slow down!" Reuben twitched an ear, pausing a second to glance back at her, then starting forwards again once she was close enough. He lead her around a few corners, down three different long corridors, and into two dead-ends before she could finally tell what he was trying to follow.

A voice, muffled too badly to make out, was nearby. She couldn't tell who it was, but it was enough to push her to go a little quicker after Reuben. They turned two corners before she saw an exit; the voice had stopped, however, and she had no idea if the owner was out of the maze or not.

"Hello?" She slowed down a good amount as she got close to the exit. "Anyone?"

"Olivia?" The voice was a lot clearer now, though the gurgle of a nearby lava flow drowned it out enough that she still couldn't put a name to it; they had to be out of the maze. She turned the corner, squinting against the newfound light of the little clearing. There was a clear view of the hut now, as well as a chasm between her and the building. The clearing itself had a machine, as well as a chest and crafting table. There was another entrance into the maze to her right, and the person she had been looking for was standing near the machine.

"Jesse!" She smiled in relief, moving towards the other. Jesse mirrored her reaction and hurried forwards to meet her. "There you are-!"

Instead of stopping just in front of her like she had expected, Jesse had, more or less, plowed straight into her and grabbed her in a tight hug. She took a step back in order to keep from falling over, standing stunned for a moment, before returning the hug slowly.

"God, I'm glad to see you two…" Jesse mumbled, taking another moment to pull away from her. Olivia smiled lightly.

"Us too." She glanced down at Reuben, folding her arms over her torso again. "I thought we'd be trapped in there forever." Jesse leaned over and gave Reuben a couple of pats, eliciting satisfied snorts from the pig. Jesse then turned back to Olivia, starting to say something, but hesitating. Olivia's smile fell away to accommodate confusion.

"Are…" Jesse finally spoke up. "A-are you okay? Y-you look… exhausted."

Olivia stood silently for a moment, then glanced away from the brunette, curling in on herself slightly. "... I could be worse." Jesse watched her for a moment, concern evident in her gaze. She opened her mouth to say something, but after a second, closed it again and rubbed an arm. Olivia sighed, glancing back at the maze. "This maze…" She decided to change the subject. "We don't have time for this." Jesse glanced at the maze warily, then turned and looked at the building across the chasm. The other started moving slowly towards the chasm, and Olivia followed slowly after her. "Who even knows where the others are by now?"

"W-well…" Jesse stopped next to the edge of the chasm, glancing over at her. "A-at least we're back together."

Olivia stopped beside her, allowing a smile to form on her lips. "Yes! The dream team, reunited." Reuben let out a small squeal, bouncing up and down a couple of times from his place beside Olivia. She turned to the chasm. "Now the dream team's just gotta find a way across this gaping bottomless pit." Jesse folded her arms thoughtfully as they both examined the chasm. There were random patches of land floating in different areas, and a number of lava flows scattered near them.

"What about this thing?" Olivia blinked and turned to look at Jesse, then followed the other's gaze to the machine. "C-can it get us across?"

Olivia slowly moved to the far side of the machine, eyeing the slime blocks and pistons. It took her a second, but she managed to put a name to what it was supposed to be. "It's some sort of flying barge." She peered at the boats on top momentarily, then back at the slime blocks. Would this even work? "It could probably get us to the other side…" She noted the obvious places of missing components, and let out a small sigh. "But it's in really bad shape." Jesse approached from the other side, glancing up at the boats. "And it's really complicated."

"Y-you can fix it, though…" Jesse trailed off, "r-right?"

Olivia gave the barge another once-over. "... I don't know." She then shot a wary glance towards Jesse. "I think it's out of my league." Olivia moved around the back of the barge to where Jesse was, glancing over the machine once again as she did. She saw almost no way to fix this. The layout made almost no sense; hell, it took her a minute to even recognize this thing. "I wish I'd had more time to study with Ellegaard… She could've fixed this thing right up."

"W-well…" Jesse looked at the barge again, briefly, then back at Olivia, a small smile forming on her lips. "I-I know you can figure it out. You always do." Olivia pulled her gaze from the barge to glance at Jesse for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

"Fine. I'll take a look." Jesse seemed satisfied with the answer, and stepped back as Olivia began slowly moving alongside the barge. The layout was wonky, imperfect. Things would only barely line up with each other, and it looked like they could fall out of place too easily. Plus, she had a feeling if they turned it on, if it moved, it would go in the wrong direction. "This layout doesn't even make any sense… What was Ivor thinking?" Olivia crouched down to examine one of the lower pistons, glaring at it momentarily. Then, she sighed, leaning back into a sitting position and leaning her arms on her knees. "... Or maybe it's just me."

"Wh-what?" Jesse moved around her, settling on her knees. She peered at the barge momentarily, then turned to Olivia, concern evident in her gaze.

"I mean… Ellegaard herself said that I don't have what it takes to be a great engineer." Olivia set her forehead on her arms, glaring at the ground visible just beside her. "She was right. I just can't hack it." Jesse wrung her hands lightly, opening her mouth to respond, but nothing came out and she closed it again, opting to one of the looks Olivia was pretty sure only she could pull off. Olivia lifted her head enough to look at her for a second, then leaned back slightly and looked away. "Don't give me that look. You know what I'm talking about." She pushed her hands against the floor and managed to get to her feet. Jesse stood up quickly to offer help, but Olivia ignored it. "She was the greatest redstone engineer. Ever!" Olivia moved to the edge of the chasm again. "She was in the Order of the Stone."

"B-but…" Jesse was still wringing her hands as she moved to stand behind her. "Th-the Order are still people, just like us."

Olivia huffed. "Right. _Just_ like us. I mean," she turned around to face Jesse, "how are we the ones saving the world when even _they_ don't have what it takes?" She glanced away from the other, finding interest in the chest across the clearing. "Soren and Ivor are always at each other's throats…" She glared at the chest. "The 'greatest warrior in history' doesn't remember his own name…" She turned back to the chasm, ignoring the fact that Jesse and Reuben were both giving her worried looks. "All I ever see Magnus do is argue…" She sighed. "And we both know what happened to Ellegaard." She didn't need to look at Jesse to know that she flinched as she moved to stand beside her. "If the Order can't do this… how are we supposed to?" She turned to glance at Jesse, who was looking at the chasm. "How are we supposed to do _anything_?" Olivia turned back to the chasm herself, muffling a sigh. "We're nobody."

"We've…" Jesse turned to glance at her. "We've come such a long way and endured so many things… We can't just give up. _You_ can't give up."

"And why not?" Olivia snapped, folding her arms against her torso. "Jesse, all I'm doing at this point is holding everyone back more. I can't do shit for myself and you're all wasting energy on me because of it."

"You're not holding anyone back," Jesse said firmly.

Olivia snorted. "Yeah right. I can't run anymore, I can't move or feel most of my arms at this point; hell, I've fallen off of more things since we found out what Withersickness was than Reuben has in his life." She sighed. "Why can't I just give up already?"

"Because I need you." This caused Olivia to stand up a little straighter, finally managing to meet Jesse's gaze. "We all need you." The other was tearing up a bit. "You've done things and named things that no one else even knew about. You helped me convince Ellegaard to help us, you figured out the locator, you…" Jesse sighed, rubbing her arm across her eyes quickly. "Y-you've done way more than you're giving yourself credit for." She glanced up at Olivia again, trying a smile. "S-so if anyone can figure that thing out, it's you."

There was a long silence as Olivia watched the other with wide eyes, silently going over what she had said in her head. Then, after several moments of mulling it over, she let out a long sigh. "Okay. I'll give it another shot." Jesse smiled at this and nodded once. Olivia turned and moved back over to the barge, examining the pieces again.

First of all, the piston placement was uneven and made little to no sense. There was a piston on one side, but not the other, and it wasn't activated somehow, despite the redstone block just beside it. The piston that was supposed to actually keep it running was gone, as well as the redstone block that was with it. If it were to work, she would have to-

Wait. That was it!

"Hold on… I think I see what Ivor was trying to do!" Olivia leaned close to the front of it momentarily, then stood straight and turned to Jesse. She managed to pull a piston from her pocket, passing it to the brunette. "Here. Take this, craft it into a sticky piston, and put it on the other side of the barge with a redstone block." She glanced at the barge, then back to Jesse, who was mouthing something to herself. "You got all that?"

Jesse's attention snapped back. "Y-yeah, I think so." Olivia nodded once, and the brunette wandered over to the other side of the clearing. Olivia turned and started attempting to work on the barge. If she could just rewire the other piston, she should be able to get it to work. It wouldn't be the prettiest thing, but that wasn't necessary now. She stepped lightly around the barge, managing to push a panel open on the unactivated piston.

As she had guessed, Ivor had simply deactivated part of the redstone wiring inside. She lifted a hand, managing to pin one of the wires between two fingers and push it into place. She fixed the other wire that was dangling loosely inside, then shut the panel and thumped her hand against it a couple of times to set it. Sure enough, the piston whirred lightly, though it still didn't move. Which wasn't a problem, as it didn't need to move until it was activated. Olivia moved back to the other side of the barge to make sure there wasn't anything else to fix as Jesse returned, a redstone block in one hand and a sticky piston in the other. The brunette placed the items down, glancing at Olivia for approval.

Olivia wasn't sure if Jesse secretly knew what she was doing, or if it was a lucky guess, but she got it spot-on. Olivia nodded at her once, then scanned over the barge a final time, taking a step back. When the items Jesse had put in place had settled, the machine clicked, and started to whir quietly. Olivia grinned.

"Holy cow, we did it!" Jesse moved to stand beside her, glancing over the barge as well. Olivia glanced at her. "We just need flint and steel to get it started."

"See?" Jesse grinned. "I-I knew you could do it."

Olivia huffed out a small laugh. "Thanks, Jesse." She slowly replaced her arms over her torso. "And… Thank's for everything you said just before. It really helped." Jesse smiled, nodding lightly.

"N-no problem."

Their attention was pulled to Reuben as he shuffled towards the maze slowly, sniffing the ground. After a few steps, he lifted his head, giving a confused snort as he peered at the entrance.

"It must be this way!" An urgent shout rang out from the maze. That had to be Gabriel.

"Run!" That was Lukas. So they had found each other after all.

Gabriel skid around the corner, nearly running right into the wall. Soren turned the corner neatly, but seemed to be in no less of a hurry. Lukas was just behind them, skidding slightly as he turned, before darting towards them. Right behind him was a horde of zombies.

Olivia automatically gasped, backing up towards the barge. Jesse tensed, and Reuben turned and darted to the barge, managing to jump up and maneuver his way into the closer boat.

"E-everyone, get on th-the barge!" Jesse motioned to the machine behind her. Olivia turned and darted over to it, managing to grab ahold of the boat Reuben was in. She couldn't pull herself up though, but someone behind her pushed her up enough that she could, more or less, fall into it. She pushed herself into a sort of seated position and turned to spot Jesse moving over to the back of the barge, retrieving her flint and steel. The zombies were way too close for comfort. Lukas pulled himself into the other boat after Gabriel, who was seated behind Soren. There was a click, and Olivia was suddenly jolted forwards as the machine started moving.

"Jesse?!" Soren motioned nervously to the brunette. Jesse glanced behind her, flinching at the sight of the horde nearly on top of her, before she turned and darted after the barge, managing to jump up and grab ahold of Olivia and Reuben's boat. Olivia attempted to help pull her up, and managed to do a little bit, before Jesse hooked her leg over the side of the boat and fell into it.

The adrenaline remaining from the short burst of fear left most of them, if not all of them, trying to catch their breath. Jesse pushed herself up onto her feet, nearly falling over again as the machine continued to jerk forwards. "Is… Is everyone o-okay...?"

Soren sighed. "For the moment…" Olivia could've sworn that she heard his voice tremble a little bit.

"I remember something." Olivia glanced at Gabriel with wide eyes. "Didn't Ellegaard build a machine like this once?"

Soren shifted his footing. "Yes, in the Nether…" He cleared his throat nervously.

"And you were… terrified of flying on it!" Gabriel glanced up at the back of Soren's head.

"What?" Soren laughed nervously. "Stuff and nonsense."

"No, no, I'm positive." Gabriel smiled slightly. "You spent the entire ride quivering in terror!"

Soren forced another laugh. "The- the man's mad! Wither crazy!" Olivia lifted an eyebrow at him, though he couldn't see it. The machine jerked oddly, and Soren yelped.

Gabriel chuckled. "Well, I suppose I could be mistaken…"

Soren huffed. "I liked you better when you had amnesia."

They reached the other side of the chasm, the machine stopping against a little dock of wood planks. They started climbing off; Jesse stepped off of the barge, then turned and offered a hand to Olivia. She took the offer, and the other pulled her to her feet so she could climb off as well. reuben jumped off after her. Soren hurried off the barge, one hand on his stomach and the other rubbing his forehead. He looked like he'd be sick. Gabriel and Lukas climbed off after him, and The group circled up. Gabriel moved ahead a few steps, then turned back to them.

"Well that was exciting." He smiled lightly, seeming actually excited by the barge ride.

"By 'exciting,'" Soren lowered his hands, "I assume you mean 'absurd and unnecessary.'"

Lukas shrugged. "At least we made it."

"Well…" Jesse motioned to a staircase ahead, which lead up to the lab. "L-let's go see what he's hiding in there."

* * *

 **AN: -finger guns- here we go**

 **i had something to put here but i can't remember what it was now. :/**

 **until next time!**


	38. Books

She wasn't sure if she was expecting it or not, but walking into a room of books once again made Olivia slump slightly at what it meant. It meant looking through more books, which meant reading title after title and being disappointed by every one of them. She could the others were no more enthused by it; she glanced over to catch Lukas already rubbing his face tiredly. Gabriel wandered over to the edge of the room, looking past the edge of the bookcase.

"So many books…!" He lifted a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Why would he need so many books?"

Lukas shrugged lightly. "He must've had a lot of time on his hands."

Olivia swallowed nervously, glancing briefly behind her, then at Jesse. "We should be careful. This place could be booby-trapped."

"L-let's just start looking for the enchanting book." She glanced at Olivia briefly. "Just don't take any books out u-unless you think it's th-the right one." The others nodded, and the rest of the group split up.

Gabriel had already vanished around the corner, and Soren was the first to start after him. Olivia followed slowly behind, stopping just past the corner to examine the next set of shelves. Reuben had trotted after Gabriel, likely to find somewhere to wait for them to finish. Lukas was scanning the bookshelf in the front corner of the room, and Jesse had lagged at the entrance to look there.

It didn't take her long to figure out that this would be an interesting library scan, if not a harder one. Ivor was less organized here than he was anywhere else; most of these books weren't actual informational books. There were a couple shelves that she was pretty sure were half-filled with romance novels. Which was… interesting. There were several different kinds of books on one shelf, while the shelf just below it was all potion books. She moved to the next set of shelves to scan the books there, but was quickly distracted by a starting conversation behind her.

"H-hey, Lukas, having any luck?" A quiet set of footsteps accompanied Jesse's voice. Lukas didn't immediately respond.

"... No." There was a single sound of a footstep as Lukas presumably turned to her. "Just…" A pause. "I've been thinking about other stuff, actually."

There was shifting cloth. "... Stuff like what?"

"Y'know… Gabriel, the Ocelots… People getting Withersickness and amnesia." Lukas sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I came with you, it's just…" Another pause. "I'm just scared for everyone. For them, for us…" Olivia pointedly looked at a book as she swore she felt eyes on her briefly. "For everyone, really."

Olivia shifted to a different shelf , one that was out of their vision, as Jesse started to respond. "... I-I'm scared, too. I mean… W-we keep telling ourselves that everyone's gonna be fine, b-but… W-we don't really _know_ that…" Jesse sighed. "A-and as for everyone else…"

"Right," Lukas finished for her. "It's hard not to think about." Lukas gave another mild sigh. "Guess it's not harder than looking through a million books, though, right?"

Jesse hummed a short, quiet laugh. "I-I guess being an angry loner gives you a lot of time t-to read."

Lukas snorted at that. "Tell me about it." A couple of footsteps followed his words as, Olivia guessed, he approached the bookshelves. "'How to Train Your Slime'… 'The Various Uses of Mooshroom Stew'…" Lukas shifted. "'Potion-ology volume… twenty- _four_ '?"

Jesse sighed. "Those don't really sound like enchanting books, do they?"

"I don't think so," was Lukas' only response.

Their conversation seemed to end there, and Olivia quickly scanned over a few book titles to try and make up for her distraction. She found two more "Potion-ology" books- volumes twelve and three- on either side of what looked like a sort of published journal, as it had no title. To the right of those, there was a book so worn that the lettering was nearly illegible. After peering at it for a few seconds, she managed to make out "Strength in Armor" in faded gold lettering.

She wondered whether it was a tutorial book or another romantic novel.

"Hey, Olivia." She blinked and turned to spot Jesse coming around the corner, giving a tiny wave. "Any luck?"

Olivia coughed once. "Not really. Ivor has too many books, and there's too few of us looking." She sighed, glancing at Jesse. "How did we end up all split up like this?" Jesse opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated before closing it again. "I miss how things used to be. That first night we all spent together?" She smiled slightly. "That was… kinda fun, actually. No one was sick yet, and we all were… fine." Her smile fell.

"Well…" Jesse wrung her hands. "W-we might be spread thin, but we're still a team. Th-that's how teams work."

Olivia smiled slightly again. "Hey, you almost said 'teamwork'."

Jesse grinned, letting her hands drop. "See? We're still funny. A-and we can still get things done."

Olivia nodded thoughtfully. "I guess being split up means we can be in more places at once, right?" Jesse nodded slightly. "Kind of like… the-" she cut herself off. "Wait, that's a bad metaphor. Let's forget about that."

Jesse gave a sort of lopsided smile and shrugged, then turn and wandered off towards where Soren, Gabriel, and Reuben had disappeared. She paused near another shelf and scanned over the titles, mumbling a couple of them out loud.

"'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mining'... 'The Unabridged Redstone Encyclopedia'... 'Zombies and Pigs: An Intimate Memoir'-?" Olivia glanced over in time to watch Jesse jolt back away from the shelf making a face and shaking her head. She had to hold down a snort and turn back to the bookshelves before Jesse could take notice of her. She soon heard her asking Soren the same question she had asked her and Lukas.

She continued to scan title after title of books for another couple of minutes, finding nothing of any more interest that she had already found. She wasn't sure how many more categories of books Ivor could have at this point; she'd seen an example of just about every one of them.

A set of footsteps coming up behind her caught her attention, and she glanced back to see Lukas approaching her. "Please tell me you're having more luck than I am."

He shrugged. "Afraid not. It's gone from instructional to novels over there." Olivia sighed.

"Tell me about it. I'm pretty sure I found a kid's book somewhere in here." She let her arms drop.

Lukas grinned, shrugging again. "Maybe that's the enchanting book."

Olivia snorted. "Maybe." She paused thoughtfully. "I think Jesse found the worst one."

"Oh lord," Lukas snickered.

"Hey, Olivia!" Jesse's voice sounded from the other side of the bookcase, causing her to perk up slightly. "I-I think there's some redstone over here." Olivia blinked, then moved forwards past the bookcases to the next section of the room.

Jesse was standing near a lava-filled fireplace, pointing to a hole in a little wall beside her. Olivia moved over to her, and she stepped aside so she could look. Sure enough, a line of redstone was running through the hole, following a curve not far back and leading to something she couldn't see. It wasn't active.

"Looks like a circut." She glanced back at Jesse. "We probably just need a lever to power it."

"Oh." Jesse's eyes widened a little in realization, before she started digging through her pockets. After a second, she retrieved a lever from her pocket, glancing it over quietly.

Olivia looked at her for a moment, then folded her arms, shifting her weight to one leg skeptically. "Where did you get a lever?"

Jesse flinched, then smiled sheepishly. "Y-you know how Petra let me make a sword on the way back to EnderCon?" Olivia lifted an eyebrow. "I… may have messed up the recipe a little bit the first time."

Olivia made a face. "How do you mess up the recipe for a sword?"

Jesse rubbed the back of her head as she moved the lever towards its place. "I-I got my hands mixed up a-and it formed before I could fix it." Olivia rolled her eyes as a grin forced its way onto her face. Jesse placed the lever on the wall, and immediately was followed by the redstone activating.

"Well that's a good start." Olivia glanced at the glowing red trail in the hole, shifting her weight again. The others were beginning to approach curiously. Lukas had followed Olivia around the corner when she had been called to, and Soren and Gabriel were close enough to have spotted something going on.

"Let's… see what this does." Jesse turned and looked at the lever for a second, then reached up and pulled the lever down. There was a click, and almost immediately, something rumbled behind Jesse. The brunette flinched, turning and looking at the fireplace behind her as the lava started to vanish.

Behind it was a long staircase leading downwards. Olivia peered down at it, but couldn't see the bottom. The floor in front of it, which Olivia had noted as weird-looking, suddenly started dropping down, and Jesse and Reuben had to shuffle back before they went with it. The floor turned into the remaining bit of staircase, allowing them to descend if they wanted to. Which, at this point, was their only option.

"A secret passageway," Gabriel mused. "Hmm…"

"Why would you put a secret passageway in a house that nobody ever visits?" Lukas placed a hand on his hip and motioned to the passageway with the other.

"I mean…" Jesse rubbed the back of her head as she glanced back at him. "They're cool…?"

Lukas mulled this over for a couple of seconds. "Good point."

Soren turned and started down the stairs. Jesse followed just behind him, and Reuben followed her. Olivia and Lukas shared a glance, the two debating on who should go first silently, when there was a click, and then a rumble. Olivia looked back to the stairwell to see walls beginning to close on it, Reuben just barely far enough down to not get caught by them. Lukas started hurrying down the steps, but didn't make it far enough before the walls shut completely.

There were several seconds where no one really knew what to say or do; Lukas backed up to the top of the stairs again.

"A-are you guys okay?" Jesse's voice sounded from the other side of the wall. Olivia coughed a couple of times before answering.

"We're fine," she turned and pushed the lever up again. Nothing happened, so she pulled it down, then pushed it up again. Nothing continued to happen. "But the lever isn't working anymore!"

A brief silence. "Stay there, w-we'll head down and see what we can find!" Jesse called back. Olivia's shoulders drooped slightly as she leaned against the wall beside the lever, looking at the edge of the stairs. There was a silence as the three of them tried to think of what to do.

"Can something go right for once, or are we always gonna get split up over and over again?" She looked up at Lukas as she spoke. He glanced at her, then shrugged.

"Looking more and more like the latter," he muttered, folding his arms. She sighed, leaning her head against the wall for a moment.

"Well, what do we do now?" She lifted her head again to look at Gabriel, who was glancing between her and Lukas. Lukas glanced at him as well, then at her. She shared a look with him, before she shrugged.

"I guess we could keep looking through all of these books…" She looked at one of the bookshelves for a moment, then made a face. "Yeah, I don't want to do that."

"Yeah, no." Lukas scrunched up his nose. "That doesn't sound fun." Gabriel glanced between them, then shrugged indifferently.

"Maybe there's another way to open the wall?" He suggested. Olivia mulled over the idea silently for a moment. He had a point; there could be multiple ways to open the wall, and they had merely found the obvious one.

"Oh, of _course_ there's another way."

All three of them jumped at the new voice. Olivia's gaze snapped back to the bookcases to see Ivor approaching. He looked tired, and she was pretty sure he had a bruise on his face, but still seemed to be fine other than that. They looked silently at nim for a moment, before Olivia lifted an eyebrow skeptically.

"How did you get here?" Ivor folded his arms.

"You really think I would put an unstable barge as the _only_ form of entrance?" He shook his head. "If you had waited for me, I would have been able to show you a way around that maze completely. That barge wasn't even supposed to _work_!"

"It wasn't?" Gabriel tilted his head. "It seemed to work fine."

"Yeah." Lukas glanced at Olivia briefly. "It was working when you found it, right? You and Jesse found it before us." Ivor looked at her; she couldn't tell if he was intentionally looking hostile, or if that's just how he was all of the time.

"No." Olivia pushed against the wall uncomfortably. "We fixed it."

"I made that thing in a way that was supposed to be impossible to start." Ivor folded his arms.

Olivia shrugged slightly. "Well, it's definitely not gonna get us back across."

Ivor shook his head. "Oh, this doesn't matter right now. Are Jesse and Soren down there?" He motioned to the wall. Olivia nodded. He sighed. "Well, that's not how I expected this to go, but no matter." He turned and wandered off to the far end of the room, to a chest and a crafting table. He shifted through the chest momentarily, then retrieved a few wooden planks. He turned and moved back over to them, placing one of them on the floor next to the wall Olivia was next to. He climbed easily up it, moving over so he was standing on the fireplace.

"Um…" Lukas furrowed his brows. "What are you doing?"

"These pistons have rusted over time. To have the lever working again, you have to reset the whole contraption." He started hitting something they couldn't see. "Which means getting these things to close again." He glanced over to Olivia. "Flip the lever up. We don't have all day." Olivia pushed the lever up so the redstone was activated again as some of the lava began to flow down again. After a few minutes of Ivor hitting the pistons, the lava had returned to how it had been originally. Ivor hopped back down and reached past Olivia to flip the lever. The Lava proceeded to vanish again, the wall reopening.

"Well _that_ was easier than I thought it would be." Lukas folded his arms.

"Yes, yes, now come _on_." Ivor started down the stairs. "And watch out for the tripwire. There's no way to open this thing from the inside." Olivia and Lukas shared a glance, before the blond started down the steps. Olivia followed close behind, stepping over the aforementioned tripwire. Gabriel followed in the back of the line.

The staircase was a lot shorter than they had originally thought, as they reached the bottom in only a few minutes. The stairs lead to a long room, lined with pictures on the walls, and five pedestals scattered about; four of them were on either side of the carpet that formed a line down the center of the room, and the fifth was at the end of it. All five of them were empty.

"Seems they have figured out this puzzle…" Ivor mused. He motioned to a set of iron doors at the far end of the room. "They must be in there. Come on, come _on_." Olivia followed him to the doors, glancing at the paintings on the walls as she passed them. Most of them were of different places, but a couple were standard, common paintings that people liked to have in their homes.

As they started to pass through the doors, Ivor's arm suddenly shot out, keeping them from passing him.

"Hold on," he whispered firmly. She glanced at him, then past him into the next room. The room was amazing, to say the least. A replica of a dragon wrapped around the room, made entirely of obsidian. Purple redstone lamps lined the far wall, and past that seemed to be a replica of, what looked to her at least, the End. She spotted Jesse hopping down from a blue light on the wall, Soren hurrying over to her excitedly. He then grabbed ahold of her arm and pulled her through a different set of doors, Reuben at their heels. Ivor's arm lowered and he started forwards again, though he seemed to deliberately try and stay as quiet as possible.

"Why are we being quiet?" Gabriel whispered from the back of the group. "And why are we sneaking after Jesse?"

" _Shh_!" Ivor shot a glare over his shoulder. "If they know we're here, he'll change it! Come on." He inched forwards again. Olivia and Lukas shared a nervous glance, then tiptoed after him as best as they could. As they approached, they could hear talking.

"A-are those… the Ender Crystals?" Jesse's voice was heard first. "L-like the _real_ ones?"

"No…" Soren didn't seem to respond to Jesse. "They can't be… Not here…!" Ivor stopped them just around the corner. "Not after all this time! No, no, no, no, _no_! He kept them; the fool actually kept them!"

"What is he talking about?" Lukas whispered from behind Olivia. "Ivor, what is he _talking_ about?" Ivor let a near-inaudible hum escape him, lowering his arm slightly.

"Seems we're just in time."


	39. Lies

"Jesse, this isn't… This isn't what it looks like!" Soren's voice quivered. Olivia managed to peer far enough past Ivor to see Jesse, who seemed to have taken a step back, a hand lifted near her chest. "Our story- uh- _the_ story-! I-it's mostly true- I swear! I swear it!" Olivia spared a glance back at Lukas, who looked just as confused as she felt. "Whatever you're thinking…" Soren sighed. "I promise I can explain…" Jesse was silent for several seconds, so Soren huffed. "Ugh, Ivor, you've ruined us…!" Ivor's arm lowered and he allowed them to inch forwards a bit. Olivia could see Soren now, and the look of guilt on his face startled her. "I'm afraid I haven't been honest with you, Jesse… We _did_ defeat the Ender Dragon, but… It wasn't… exactly like I said." Soren turned and moved to the far end of the room, where Olivia noticed four identical crystal-like things floating on the shelf that he leaned against. Those, she guessed, were what Soren had "no"d about.

"H-how-" Jesse's voice was shaking so badly, it was a miracle she could say anything. "How 'n-not exactly'?"

"We… got rid of it… But we didn't _kill_ it, per se." Soren glanced back at Jesse. "In fact, we didn't even fight it." He turned again. "We didn't even _try_." There was a long pause as Soren sighed, with Jesse unable to find her words again.

"Listen closely," Ivor hissed back.

"You want the truth?" Soren glanced at Jesse from the corner of his vision. Then, before Jesse could respond, he lifted his arms and threw them down again. "We used that damned Command Block!"

Jesse took two steps back. "Y-you- you used the Command Block t-to defeat th-the Ender Dragon?"

"What?" Lukas whispered harshly.

Soren paced over to the other corner of the room, where Olivia could see him much clearer, then let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid so."

"I can't believe this…" Olivia let herself fall against the wall.

"Understand- when I found that blasted block, we were nobodies. But with it's help, we became stronger," Soren looked to the far wall, "faster… we could do so much _more_." His eyes seemed to glaze over as he began to tell the story, and Ivor motioned for them to start edging into the doorway. "The others had no idea what I was doing… yet the more I used it, the more we came to depend on it." He sighed. "I knew it was only so long before someone would find out…" He looked to Jesse. "I was too afraid of letting them get hurt to stop. So, I concocted a plan." He looked to a pedestal in the center of the room. "I would use the Command Block to blink the Ender Dragon out of existence. Securing our status as legends… forever." He looked at Jesse again. "We told the world we defeated a dragon… And the rest… is history." Jesse stared at him for a moment, then looked off to the side slightly, gaze lowering. "All I can say is…" Soren rubbed an arm. "I was a fool."

"So you finally admit it," Ivor snapped. At this point, they were all standing in the doorway, all looking at Soren in mixes of betrayal and anger. Jesse turned rigidly around, relaxing ever so slightly at the sight of them.

"How…" Olivia pushed her arms against her torso. "How _could_ you?"

Soren narrowed his eyes. "Ivor."

"H-how long have you guys been s-standing there?" Jesse's hands moved to grip her arms, likely to hide the obvious fact that they were trembling.

"Long enough that they heard the whole thing!" Ivor stepped towards the ginger on the other side of the room. Olivia let her gaze drop to Jesse's feet momentarily, then lifted it back to Soren.

"So we're liars?" Gabriel's voice was barely above a whisper. "All of us…?"

Ivor ignored him, starting towards the far end of the room. "You didn't think you could keep it secret forever, did you, Soren?" He stopped, placing his hands on his hips. "The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

Soren stepped carefully forwards. "But Ivor… why?"

"I just wanted to hear Soren confess to his lies!" He pointed accusingly at the ginger, then threw his hands down.

Olivia managed to make a face. "Guess that worked," she said flatly.

"Soren, Gabriel, Magnus, Ellegaard…" Soren began to pace again as Ivor continued. "They all agreed to keep this a secret!"

"How conniving of us," Gabriel murmured.

"And you!" Soren turned suddenly, pointing accusingly at Ivor. "You agreed to stay quiet, too! In exchange for all of our treasures!" A gasp escaped Olivia before she could bite it down.

Ivor placed his hands on his hips. "I technically never told anybody. Jesse discovered the truth on her own."

"So this whole thing… the Wither you unleashed…" Lukas took a step forwards, bordering on hissing at Ivor. "It's all been to teach the Order a _lesson_?"

"To teach the _world_ a lesson!" Ivor whirled around to face him. "To show you who the Order really are!" He turned and pointed at Soren again, who slumped defeatedly. "Liars. Cowards. And now, they know."

"Yes," Soren sighed, "I suppose they do." He then turned, eyes narrowing. "Unfortunately for all of us, your 'lesson' got out of hand!"

Ivor placed his hands on his hips. "Look. My Wither plan obviously backfired."

"Ya _think_?" Olivia narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't know we'd end up with _three_ of those things tearing the world apart!" Ivor paced across the room, past Jesse and Reuben, and folded his arms.

Gabriel sighed, causing Olivia to glance almost sympathetically at him. "For a moment, I nearly forgot." Ivor rolled his eyes as a silence fell over them. Lukas glared at Soren, Jesse looked at the back of Ivor's head in a mix of anger and terror, and Reuben huffed angrily.

Olivia sighed. "Guys, we need to get back to what matters."

Soren nodded, placing his hands on his hips. "She's right. Destroying the Command Block is all that matters anymore." He looked to Ivor, who took a moment to visibly relax, letting his arms drop.

"... How ironic that the best thing the Command Block gave us…" He moved around the pedestal, closing the book that sat on it and silencing the whispers that had gone unnoticed, "was the very means to destroy it."

"Spare us the poetry," Soren moved to stand near him, "it's not your strong suit."

"I've had this book for years," Ivor continued on, ignoring Soren completely. "Never thought I'd actually have to use it." Olivia approached them, peering at the book momentarily. Lukas and Gabriel did the same.

Olivia then looked at Jesse. "Jesse…" The brunette glanced at her. "You should do the honors."

Ivor held the book out to her, catching her attention. "Follow me, I'll show you." Jesse took the book from him, holding it firmly with both hands.

"Ivor…" Soren stepped forwards. The alchemist turned to look at him. "I'm sorry. About everything."

Ivor's hostile tenseness fell away. "Yes, well… It doesn't matter now." Soren just nodded slightly, stepping back again. Ivor turned and motioned to Jesse, before leading her to another set of doors, opening it and passing through. When Jesse had gone into the next room after him, they shut firmly.

Olivia watched the doors silently for a long moment, then moved around the pedestal and sat down next to it, leaning back against it. She pulled her knees up and moved her arms to rest on her knees. "... Well that happened."

"I guess." Lukas moved to lean against the wall across from the doors Jesse and Ivor had vanished into. There was another long silence; Olivia dropped her head onto her arms.

Everything was a lie. That was the easiest way to put it. The Order were liars. They cheated their way to fame; no wonder they had broken up. Magnus had been revered by hundreds of thousands of people, including Axel. God, if he'd found out… he likely would have punched something or someone. For a second, she was almost angry that he wasn't there to punch Soren for her. But, then again, that would have made things worse, so that feeling faded quickly.

Soren was the biggest culprit. He was the one who had come up with it all. Now that she knew, it made sense that he would want to seclude himself in the End and refuse to visit, even on the brink of insanity from being alone for so long. He was the main perjurer. He had caused this. He had started this. All of them had gone along with it besides Ivor; Magnus and Ellegaard had lead cities. Gabriel was an icon in her area.

But Gabriel… He barely had a grip on his name, now. Learning that you had lied to the entire planet, including people you had come to trust despite not knowing them before the Storm, must have been hard. Said warrior was currently sitting against the side of the pedestal facing the closed doors, head in his hands. A pang of sympathy found it's way up.

Then it hit her.

Everything she had done in her life to become a redstone engineer… Everything she had learned and perfected and made… All of it was because of Ellegaard. She had inspired her, made her want to be successful. And she had worked for hours upon days on things to perfect them. To get where she was. It was hard enough to find out that she hadn't liked her too much, and it was harder that the revered inventor had been killed.

But _lying_ about everything? That had pushed any lasting respect Olivia had for her- which was more than when this had all started- right out the window. She had looked up to a liar her entire life. She had looked up to _liars_ her entire life. She had heard stories and learned about lies. Most of the things she had ever learned or done had been about or because of liars.

Everything was a god damned _lie_.

"Are you okay?" She lifted her head enough to look at Lukas, who was watching the back of Gabriel's head. The warrior lifted his head and glanced back at him, then turned back around.

"I am just…" He paused, looking back at Soren, then at Lukas again. "I am sorry." Olivia lifted her head a little more to look at him. "I do not know my intentions in keeping that secret, but… I am sure I did not intend for anyone to get hurt by it."

Lukas sighed. "No one meant for anyone to get hurt. I'm sure Ivor can tell you that right now." Olivia dropped her head back onto her arms as silence lapsed over them again. It lasted all of ten seconds. "Olivia? You holding up okay?"

"Fine." Her voice was tighter than she had anticipated. The mere word had caused her throat to burn.

There was a pause. "Are you sure?"

Olivia had to take a deep breath, pointedly ignoring the fact that her face was wet. "I will be eventually." Lukas didn't respond to this, so Olivia took a moment to try and maneuver her hands across her face. She managed the feat just in time for the doors to slam open again.

Olivia glanced over to see Jesse in the doorway, clad in new armor and carefully holding what looked like the craziest sword she had ever seen. Her armor was rather simple; It was a deep gray, with gold lining and red embellishments. There was a red stripe down the center of the chestplate, lined by the gold as well. There was a part that hung over her upper legs- she had no idea what it was called- that was almost like a skirt, an opening in the front and the edges lined with both gold and red. She had darker gray sleeves and leggings, and gloves and boots that matched the rest of the armor.

Needless to say, she looked incredibly cool. And it fit her perfectly.

"Whoa, cool armor, Jesse!" The tightness in her voice had gone. Jesse smiled lightly.

"Th-thanks." Olivia hooked an arm on the pedestal and hauled herself to her feet. "A-and there's some for you guys, too."

"Really?" Lukas took a couple of steps forwards. Jesse nodded. "What about Petra and Axel?"

"There's some for them, too. Like she said, there's plenty." Ivor folded his arms. "Come on, you should pick yours out so we can go." Olivia glanced at Lukas, briefly, then nodded lightly. Ivor turned and motioned to Jesse. She turned and lead the way back into the room of the End replica, with everyone following behind her. She lead them into the room with the five pedestals, where Ivor moved to take the lead, leading them across the room to another door they hadn't spotted yet. He pushed the doors open, then stepped back to allow Jesse through. Olivia and Lukas followed her, Reuben at their heels, while Soren waited outside and, more or less, stopped Gabriel from entering as well.

The room was lined with chests and armor stands, the armor stands holding armor that was of similar design to Jesse's. The chests, she guessed, had more mixed pieces. Ivor stood by the door.

"The chests have sets that are a little less sturdy," he explained. "They wouldn't stay on the armor stands. Feel free to look at them."

Lukas moved to one of the chests, pulling it open easily and starting to look at it's contents. Jesse moved to a different one and started doing the same; she was likely looking for Axel and Petra, as she almost immediately pulled out a glass helmet that looked similar to Magnus'. Olivia's eyes caught sight of a set on one of the stands.

It had a color scheme similar to Jesse's armor, with a thick gray vest lined with gold, a red gemstone in the center of the chest surrounded by gold as well. Despite not opening in the front, there was a golden stripe that stretched down the center of the vest. It had red spaulders, with a white undershirt and brown gloves that were missing half of the fingers. Black pants with gray straps that hung beside the upper legs and brown boots were underneath the vest, and there was a brown and red helmet settled on the top of the armor stand, with golden goggles strapped to it, and holes on the sides surrounded by gold rings.

"You find one?" Olivia snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Jesse, who had something green bundled in her arms with the weird glass helmet set on top. Honestly, if she had to pick anything up, she'd likely drop everything.

"Uh, yeah." Olivia glanced at the armor, then back at Jesse. "It feels kinda weird that he's pretty much giving these to us."

"Y-yeah, but…" Jesse shrugged. "I dunno. W-we're about to take on a giant monster, s-so im trying to not think too hard about it."

"... Point." Olivia turned to the armor again, analyzing it for a long moment. "Do you think he'd be offended if I took this and put it on later?"

"Mm… No, probably not." Jesse shrugged again, then shifted the green in her arms to grab ahold of the glass helmet, stowing it away so she could fold the rest of the things in her arms. "I doubt anyone would blame you for waiting."

Olivia shrugged, then moved over to her armor of choice. It took her a few minutes of maneuvering, but she managed to stow it all away for later. When she had finished doing so, she turned to spot Jesse scanning the remaining armor stands, Lukas beside her. He had apparently found his armor, as his Ocelots attire was replaced with an orange shirt and a plain leather jacket, a pouch belt around his waist. He had fingerless gloves as well, with gray spaulders and a pair of goggles settled atop his head.

"Do we have some for Petra yet?" Olivia moved to stand beside Reuben, who was at Jesse's side. Jesse shook her head.

"Not yet." The brunette continued to scan the armor stands. Reuben let out a little snort, suddenly, and trotted over to a set. It was entirely blue, also lined in gold, with a small cyan gem in the center. It had a helmet that matched, a line of what looked like spices running around it. Reuben glanced between them expectantly.

"Well…" Olivia shared a look with Lukas. "I think she'd like it."

"Yeah. Seems fitting for her." Lukas nodded. Jesse shrugged, moving over to stow it away as well.

"W-well, that's everything." Jesse turned and nodded to Ivor. He motioned to them, and they stepped out of the room.

"Let's go take on those Wither Storms."

* * *

 **AN: fanfiction can you stop taking off my italicizations like honestly**

 **also holy crap i'm almost done with this. like i'm actually almost done with this. this is the longest story i've ever written.**

 **until next time!**


	40. Fade

To say the journey back to Soren's fortress was any more interesting that their journey to the Far Lands would be a lie. It was just as boring, though it was a few days shorter. They had managed to find their horses once they were out of the Glitch Wall, which was lucky. Along the way, Olivia had managed to put on the armor she had taken at some point. That in and of itself was a feat, considering she was getting worse by the day. They'd managed to hold it off with a few Potions of Healing that Ivor had on hand, but it only came back harsher when they couldn't do that anymore.

By the time they got to the fortress, it was a miracle that she was staying on the horse at all. They had spent the last while of the journey trying to decide where would be safest for her; with them, so they could protect her, or as far away as they could get her without being too far from the fortress. She hated it; she felt completely useless, and she hated that feeling, but at this point, she was too exhausted to do much of anything, let alone complain.

They could see the Storms from miles away. It was obvious that they were bigger that when they had left, which at this point, wasn't much of a surprise. They approached a cliffside that was above the remaining fortress walls, keeping a close eye on the Storms as they did; they didn't seem to be moving, and as they got closer, it became apparent that the two smaller Storms weren't there. It was only the largest one, and it had almost seemed like it didn't have a dent in it.

Jesse pulled their horse to a stop at the edge of the cliff, looking at the Storm warily as the others stopped beside them. Olivia watched it tiredly for a moment, then shifted back slightly as Jesse moved to get off of the horse. Olivia managed to slide down as well, nearly falling over in the process. Jesse pulled her arm over her shoulders to keep her upright as the group moved to circle up nearby.

"... _Wow_ …" Lukas was the first one who had managed to speak; he hadn't gotten off of his horse yet, simply staring at the Storm.

"Shouldn't the Endermen have dismantled those things by now?" Gabriel peered at the Storm, then lowered his gaze. "Or am I just confused?"

"It's not just you." Ivor moved to stand beside him. "Something's wrong."

"Jesse!" A new voice interrupted any response, and the group turned to one of the little hills nearby. Axel and Petra were at the top of it, Axel waving like crazy. "Over here!"

"Axel! Petra!" Jesse grinned widely, slumping ever so slightly in relief. "Y-you're okay!" They quickly descended the hill, approaching them with grins of their own. Petra's seemed forced, and based on how much worse she looked, Olivia couldn't blame her.

"You guys made it!" Olivia managed a smile as Axel's steps faltered slightly. "Whoa. Nice freakin' armor, by the way."

Lukas moved to stand on Jesse's other side, Reuben just behind him; he must have gotten him down while they weren't looking. "Hey, Petra… Are you doing okay?"

"No." The redhead's response was immediate, and Olivia felt Jesse flinch. "I'm barely hanging on." She clenched her eyes shut, voice trembling slightly. "I should've stayed in that cave."

"Except you saved my butt, like, a dozen times." Axel glanced at her, trying and failing to help her feel a bit better.

Petra sighed. "He's exaggerating. I found a couple of potions to keep me going, yeah…"

"Both of you should have." Lukas shot a glance at Olivia, and she attempted to make a face. She ended up coughing.

"Yeah, yeah…" She received a wary glance from Jesse.

"There's…" Axel lifted a hand. "There's a bit of a problem, though." Jesse looked at him nervously.

"Wh-what?"

"The Endermen. They're not angry enough!" Jesse flinched. "I mean, some of 'em are, but most of them are just standing around, moving blocks…" He shrugged. "Y'know, being Endermen."

Soren huffed. " _Blast_!"

"They've kept the main Wither Storm busy, but one of the smaller ones started attacking us." Petra moved her good hand to her arm.

Axel glanced at her. "Yeah, so Magnus ran off to fight that thing all by himself!"

Ivor spluttered for a second. "He's fighting a Wither Storm?! _Alone_?!"

"Yep. Kept saying something about 'paying for the mistakes of the past'." Axel shrugged. "Whatever that means." Olivia and Jesse shared a glance.

"If a fellow member of the Order of the…" Gabriel started, then trailed off. "Of the, uh…"

"O-Order of the Stone…?" Jesse offered.

"... Is out there fighting, then I belong out there, too." Gabriel paced to the edge of the cliff, placing his hands on his hips as he stared out at the Storm.

"Gabriel, no, no," Soren approached him, moving his hands nervously, "I-I told you, you're not who you think you are!"

"My name…" Gabriel gave Soren a serious look. "Is Gabriel the Warrior." He stood there, hands on his hips for a solid thirty seconds, then turned and darted off, waving his hands in the air and screaming as he went. Axel shot Jesse a confused glance, and she just shrugged in response.

"And he's running the wrong way." Axel peered after him.

"Oh for god's sake…" Ivor pinched the bridge of his nose, then threw his hands down. "I'm not letting that _idiot_ get himself killed!" He started running after him. "Gabriel! Come back here!"

Soren sighed, placing his hands on his hips. "Without the Command Block, none of them stand a chance…" Both Axel's and Petra's gazes snapped to him.

"... Say what now?" Axel looked incredibly lost. "Why would they need the Command Block?"

"I-I'll explain later," Jesse said quickly. Axel briefly looked like he wanted to protest, but the Wither Storm screeched, and he seemed to change his mind.

"Fine." He let his shoulders drop slightly.

Petra suddenly began coughing, struggling for a second, before easing herself into a sitting position on the ground. She managed a sigh. "Guys… I can't do this anymore." She seemed to barely be propping herself up. "You have to go on without me."

There was a pause as the group glanced at her, before Jesse sighed. "Yeah. O-okay."

"You and Olivia can probably stay up here. It's away from the Storm," Lukas suggested. Jesse nodded in agreement.

"Sounds fine to me." Axel shrugged. "But what are we supposed to do? Like," he motioned with his hands, "do we just run in there, or…?"

"I made a weapon." Jesse shifted slightly. "I-I can use it to destroy the Command Block. I just need a way…" She hesitated, likely realizing what she'd have to do. "... In."

"Well, starting with angering the Endermen somehow might help." Lukas folded his arms.

"Yeah…" Jesse suddenly straightened slightly. "O-oh, I have some armor for you, too." She glanced at Lukas, who moved over and took her place holding Olivia upright, before digging through her inventory. Axel lifted his brow, glancing down at Petra briefly, who just shrugged tiredly. Jesse retrieved the green bundle she'd had, passing it to Axel, then retrieved the glass helmet and passed it to him as well. "Here."

"Oh, sweet." Axel grinned, putting the helmet on. "I was feeling a little left out." He went to say something else, but was interrupted by a loud burst of rolling thunder. Everyone fell still, listening to the thunder silently. Then, as it faded, Jesse moved to help Petra to her feet.

"C'mere, y-you two can rest over here." She helped Petra over to a small ledge to lean on, Lukas walking with Olivia just behind them.

"Thanks, Jesse." Petra settled back on the ground, leaning back against the ledge tiredly. Olivia settled beside her.

Jesse nodded and hummed quietly. She then turned and looked at the Storm. "... C'mon." She sighed. "Let's go take that thing down."

"Good luck," Olivia managed. Jesse nodded at her, a smile forming on her lips. "And Jesse?" The brunette perked up slightly. "Just… Come back alive, okay?"

Jesse nodded again, smiling a little wider. "Of course."

With that, The remaining group- Jesse, Axel, Lukas, Soren, and Reuben- turned and started making their way down the hill towards the fortress. Olivia watched them vanish, then sighed, allowing her head to fall back against the ledge.

Besides the rumble from the Wither Storm, there was a silence that lapsed between them. Olivia considered attempting a conversation of some sort, but she had no idea how to start one. Luckily for her, Petra did.

"So…" Petra coughed once. "How was Ivor's weird lab?"

Olivia hummed. "Far and dangerous."

"Sounds fun." The mild smile was evident in her voice.

"Guess you could say that." Olivia had to lift her head back up as a cough forced its way up. "What'd you guys do to hold off the Storms?"

Petra shrugged, glancing at the Storm hovering above the fortress. "Avoided. We just circled the fortress in a wide enough circle that they never got to us, and kept it in this general area." She made a face, coughing again. "Apparently they learn. Luckily, it isn't fast."

"... Ah." Olivia let her head drop back again.

"You have any trouble while you were gone?" She lifted her head again to look at Petra, who was watching her now.

Olivia managed a small shrug. "Other than falling off of stuff, not really."

Petra looked conflicted between amusement and mild concern. "You fell off of stuff?"

"You try balancing on top of a one-block-wide wall when you can't see straight." Olivia made a face, sparing a glance at the Storm. There were Endermen all over it now, and it's grumbles were a little louder.

Petra hummed. "Fair enough." A pause as she glanced at the Storm as well. "Looks like their plan is working. That thing has a pretty big hole in it's front now."

"Yeah." Olivia sighed, coughing once in the process.

Petra took a moment to speak again. "So… Why did Soren bring up needing the Command Block?"

Olivia shifted so she would lean back further, her head being propped up now. "It's a long story," she grumbled.

"Doesn't sound like a good one." Petra lifted a brow slightly.

"It isn't." Olivia shifted further so she could lay down, draping an arm over her eyes tiredly.

Petra didn't respond immediately; there was a moment or two where neither of them said anything.

"Where was his lab, anyways?" Olivia moved her arm to glance up at the redhead.

"The Far Lands."

Petra jolted. "The _Far Lands_?" Olivia hummed twice in confirmation. "Holy shit…"

"You've heard of them?"

Petra nodded. "Well, yeah, you hear about a lot of places doing what I do." She hesitated. "What was it like?"

Olivia hummed. "Weird. There were trees made of stone and water that didn't go anywhere. Plus a giant wall that looked like it had tree bark grooves that I don't think ever ends."

"Wow." Petra shifted slightly, and Olivia placed her arm back over her eyes, blocking out the purple sky. "That _is_ weird." Olivia hummed in agreement, coughing once. "Why did Ivor make his lab there?"

"Probably because it's so far away from everything," Olivia mused. Petra hummed thoughtfully.

"Was his lab hidden or anything?" Olivia glanced at Petra again.

"Pretty much. It was in the wall, and from there, it was behind a maze." The redhead nodded slowly.

"Is that where you fell off of a wall?"

"Yeah."

There was a brief pause. "... Cool armor, by the way."

"Thanks." Olivia thought silently for a few seconds. "We got some for you, but I don't know who has it now."

"... Oh." Petra sounded surprised. "Thanks, I guess."

"Sure."

There was a silence again, then Petra took a mildly sharp breath in.

"Well…" Olivia lifted her head to look at the redhead. "She's in the Storm."

Olivia flinched. "She's _what_?"

"She's in the Storm," Petra repeated. "They just launched her into it."

If Olivia wasn't already laying down, her head would have fallen back. "Oh, god…"

They sat silently for several seconds. Jesse was _in_ the Wither Storm. While it was likely that she could get in and destroy the Command Block with little trouble, getting out again before it fell could be impossible. Which could mean… The mere thought caused a pang of anxiety to shoot through her chest, forcing her to cough a couple of times.

Petra seemed to have a similar thought process. "If she dies, I'm going to bring her back and kill her."

Olivia lay still for a moment. "Sounds like something you'd be able to do." Her voice was tight. Petra gave a huff of a laugh, but fell silent again right after. "Hopefully it doesn't come to that."

"Yeah." Petra leaned back against the ledge again. "Hopefully it doesn't."

They both seemed to be at a loss for what to say, so they both fell silent. Olivia managed to maneuver her hands to run them down her face. The feeling of uselessness came back; she absolutely hated it, but it wasn't like she could stand up and go help them. Hell, she had a feeling that she couldn't sit up if she tried.

It hit her that they had no idea if the sickness would go away once the Storm was dead. It could, since it was the source of the sickness; plus, when they had used the Formidi-Bomb to blow it up, there was a little while where she had felt fine. But if it didn't… Olivia didn't want to think about that.

"Do you think the Withersickness will go away?" She turned to look at Petra. The redhead glanced at her, then shrugged slightly.

"I hope so." She coughed. "I don't know what we'd do if it doesn't." Olivia hummed softly.

"There's probably a cure, right?" Olivia felt fear rising in her chest. "You said it can come from Wither Skeletons… S-so there's gotta be _something_ , right?"

"Yeah, maybe…" Petra pulled a knee up and rested an arm on it. "We'd just have to find it fast enough. I bet there's something, but…" She sighed, glancing at her. "I don't know if we can get to it if we need it."

Olivia sighed, draping her other arm over her face. She couldn't find a way to respond. Their lives could be depending on the sickness vanishing when the Storms died. This, of course, succeeded in making her feel even more helpless. She had to depend on a fifty-fifty chance now, which was even worse than just depending on someone else in her book.

She started to wonder about it further, but her thoughts were scattered by a screech from the Storm. She moved her arms, looking up at the sky momentarily, then at Petra when she noted the sky was the same. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Petra was watching the Storm. "Jesse must've done something." There was a long pause as Olivia tried to push herself up; she managed to get onto her elbows, which was somewhat surprising. "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Olivia glanced at her.

"It kind of feels like…" She trailed off, leaning forwards a bit. "Like the Withersickness is going away. Just a bit."

Olivia blinked, then lifted a hand. It looked the same as it had; like it was rotting. She slowly pushed herself to a sitting position, then rolled up a sleeve.

It had faded a bit. Just a bit, but enough to be obvious. Olivia straightened a touch, then looked at Petra. The redhead had pulled her own sleeve up, looking at it the same way, before sharing her look of surprise.

The Storm screeched again, and Olivia looked up to see it wriggling strangely, as if in pain. Jesse was doing it. She was winning. And it wasn't until then that she realized her fatigue was slowly beginning to fade.

"She's doing it." Olivia glanced at Petra again. "She's winning." Petra nodded wordlessly. Olivia looked to her arm again, startled by how much it had changed already. Her arm was almost completely normal again; though there looked to be a faint mottled effect where the sickness had been. Now, her fingers were a much more faded purple, and it only stretched up just over the glove's edge. She literally watched it disappear.

"It's going away." Petra sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god…" Olivia nodded, pulling her sleeve back down and pulling off her glove. The purple continued to fade, leaving behind an increasingly obvious mottled thing on her skin. Something like a scar, she presumed.

She could live with a scar.

She yanked her glove back on, looking at Petra's arm. Her's was in the same boat, the color returning to her skin as the purple left behind a mottled scar. Petra glanced at it, then fixed her sleeve. As she did, the Wither Storm let out another screech.

This one was louder, harsher, and shorter. The Storm writhed in the air for several seconds, slowly beginning to lower. Olivia pushed herself to her feet, staring at it for a second.

It suddenly began to fall apart. Jesse had done it.

With a brief glance shared with Petra, Olivia took off for the fortress.

* * *

 **AN: wheezes here we go**

 **get ready**

 **until next time!**


	41. Loss

In the end, running down a hill was not the best idea Olivia's ever had. She managed to keep herself from tripping until she was at the bottom of the hill, and then she managed to keep herself from landing face-first on the ground. She caught herself with her hands, half expecting to collapse upon impact, but her arms held strong; that in and of itself threw her for a loop, as she was so used to the opposite by then. It took a moment for her to regain her bearings, before she pushed to her feet and started running again.

Admittedly, being mostly out of commission for a while had taken it's toll, and she was running out of breath by the time she reached the fortress doors. They were still open, likely broken, so she passed through them easily. The space past it was completely ruined, with the only solid thing in a pit of stone and water being stairs leading up to the doors. There were a couple of chunks of the Storm already on the ground. A pond had formed in the far half of the crater, and Endermen were scattered about, some of them holding what looked to be chunks of the Wither Storm.

"Olivia?" She turned, spotting Lukas hopping down from a nearby ledge. "What are you-?"

"Where's Jesse?" Lukas blinked, leaning back a touch, then glancing at the crater.

"We don't know. She and Reuben haven't fallen yet, we don't think." He started to say something else, but Olivia didn't hear it, as she quickly hopped down the steps into the crater. Axel was at the bottom, looking around for their missing friend. He seemed startled by her appearance as well, but if he wanted to say anything, he didn't.

"Have you seen her yet?" She glanced at him. He shook his head.

"No. I don't know where she-" He cut off, gaze snapping up. Olivia followed it to see something fall from the Storm. Something that looked to be gray and brown rather than black. The thing formed into a more human shape within seconds of appearing, falling rapidly towards the ground. Though, it must have only been her perspective that caused her to think that it would hit ground, because it landed safely in the water.

Olivia let out a short huff of a laugh in relief as Axel started pushing forwards through the rapidly depleting crowd of Endermen towards the water. Olivia jolted out of her relieved state and followed close behind.

If she weren't so focused on getting to the water, and if the Endermen weren't already leaving, she'd probably hate moving through another crowd of them.

She was visible in the water, though she hadn't surfaced yet. Axel moved around the bank, careful not to slip on the wet stone as she surfaced. She looked around for a moment, seeming to take in what was around her.

"Jesse!" The brunette managed to turn, spotting Axel quickly and starting towards them. Olivia hopped down beside him as Jesse clambered onto the bank, pushing to her feet. Olivia acted automatically; she moved around Axel quickly and grabbed Jesse in a tight hug, completely disregarding the fact that she was still soaked. The other tensed, standing perfectly still for a moment, before returning the hug. As she did, Axel moved over and grabbed them both in a firm hug, starting to laugh in relief. It was contagious; Olivia felt a laugh bubbling up, and she could tell that Jesse was in the same boat by the way her shoulders shook.

"You did it." Olivia finally gave in to the laughter, tightening her hold on the brunette. "You _won_!"

"Heck yeah she did!" Axel lifted them up suddenly, still laughing. Jesse started to laugh softly.

"You did it, Jesse!" Lukas' voice sounded from nearby; he had run down after Olivia, apparently. "You actually did it!" Axel placed them back on the ground, and their hug broke apart as Jesse turned to look at Lukas. She was smiling; she looked exhausted, and she was likely at least a little hurt from that final fight, but she was smiling nonetheless. Petra ran up next, stopping next to Lukas and shooting a smile Jesse's way.

"Nice work, Jesse!" Jesse nodded once, smile widening ever so slightly. Axel grinned and grabbed Jesse in another hug, lifting her right off of the ground.

It was surreal. Everything was over, after ages of running and being terrified, it was just… over. They didn't have to run, they didn't have to fight, it was just… over. It felt odd, if she were being honest, but it was also relieving.

Her train was cut off by Lukas. "So did your Withersickness go away?"

"Take a guess." Petra folded her arms, a smirk pulling at her lips. "It started dying off when that thing did." She motioned to the chunk of Storm in the pond behind them.

Anything else she would have said was stopped by an odd, faint noise. Almost like a low squeak, muffled and short. They all glanced around, attempting to find the source of the noise, then glanced between each other. Then, out of nowhere, Jesse tore out of Axel's grip, stumbling back and nearly falling into the pond again, before catching herself. She had gone wide-eyed, tensing and trembling slightly.

"Reuben." Her voice barely came out above a whisper. Olivia blinked, eyes widening slightly as realization hit her; they hadn't seen Reuben. "Reuben, where is he; wh-where's Reuben?"

"I-I haven't seen him, he was with you." Lukas lifted his hands slightly, his own eyes going wide. A tiny whine escaped the brunette, and she looked desperately to the other side of the pond. They all began looking around the area, listening for the odd noise in case it would lead them to him.

Olivia, honestly, hoped it didn't, because if it did, it couldn't mean anything-

" _Reuben_!"

-good.

She flinched away from Jesse as she let out a horrified cry, the brunette's voice louder than she'd ever heard it as she took off towards the edge of the crater. Olivia was the first to follow Jesse, Petra and Lukas just behind her. She hoped it wasn't going to be what she thought it was, but based on Jesse's reaction, it probably was.

If only hoping was enough.

She came to a stop just behind Jesse, who had stopped near the wall of the clearing, hands against her mouth and her shoulders shaking even harder. Olivia followed her wide-eyed gaze to the ground against the wall.

Where a certain pig was laying, trembling like a leaf and almost all color drained from him.

"Oh, no-!" Olivia's fingers found her mouth. Jesse managed two steps forwards towards the pig before crumbling to her knees. The other's hands slowly lowered, one of them slowly moving to find Reuben's ear.

There were a few seconds where no one could even bring themselves to move. Then, slowly, Jesse leaned forwards slightly as Reuben let out another whine.

"R-Reuben…" Her voice cracked. "Y-you're a hero, y-you know that…?" Olivia's hands rose up a bit, her index fingers pushing against the bridge of her nose in an attempt to hold down the tears that were pushing their way up. Reuben whined again, and Jesse ran a thumb over the base of his ear. "Y-you just-" her voice cracked again. "Y-you just helped save the world."

Reuben peered at her momentarily, then closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. Despite being brief, it shot a wave of panic through Olivia's chest.

"R-reuben, c'mon…" He pried his eyes open again as Jesse's voice cracked and fell away. "I-I need you, y-you need to s-stay with me. Y-you _have_ t-to…" He tried to push himself up, but after a second with his shoulder off of the ground, he fell back again. "Please…" The word came out mixed with a sob, and Jesse struggled for a moment, her head drooping, before she managed to pull herself together again.

Reuben lifted his head, slowly and shakily, and looked tiredly at Jesse for a moment. Then he managed one of his signature pig smiles. Jesse let out a quiet huff of a laugh, sniffling a little. Reuben seemed content enough with it, as he let out a soft snuffling sound.

Just like with Ellegaard, despite how she'd tried to fight it, thoughts of things said started to make themselves known. Except this time, it wasn't things that Reuben had said or done. It was stuff _she_ had said, things _she_ had done. She had doubted him, that couldn't be denied; she had done it on multiple occasions, and not once had she ever apologized. Now was her last shot, but even if she tried, the words wouldn't come out.

She had doubted him, she had disregarded him, and she had gotten annoyed with him more than once for little things. All of those things had seemed little before, but now felt so much worse.

"I love you." Jesse barely got the words out. "Don't you forget that, o-okay?" Reuben blinked in response. There were a few moments of silence, Reuben unable to make any other noises, and Jesse too choked up to try. Olivia almost tried to say something, but couldn't find the words to do so.

Everything seemed to stop as Reuben fell back to the ground, going still.

No one could speak, no one could move; hell, no one could _react_ for a moment as they struggled to take in the scene before them. Reuben vanished in a puff of white smoke, leaving a porkchop in his place. Jesse's shaking hands slowly moved forwards and lifted it from it's spot, struggling for a few seconds, before she suddenly curled in on herself, shoulders jolting in a sob. No one could speak for a moment.

"Jesse, I'm…" Lukas' voice came out softly, shaking ever so slightly. "I am so sorry."

Petra sighed softly. "He was a great pig." Even her voice seemed to quiver slightly.

Jesse didn't respond to either of them. She didn't even move to show she had heard. Olivia finally let her hands drop , taking the couple of steps forwards to kneel down next to her and wrap her arms around her shoulders. This seemed to get through to her, as she turned and shoved her face into her shoulder as she shook with another sob. Another set of arms wrapped around them; she guessed it was Axel based on the size of their arms.

There was a span of time- Olivia wasn't actually sure how long it was- where no one said anything. There was nothing to say, really, and it wasn't like words would make this any better. Petra and Lukas hadn't moved from their places yet; the redhead focused on something elsewhere, and Lukas was focusing on the ground. A faint murmuring ended the silence; Olivia could see movement behind the other two over Jesse's head.

People; crowds of people were making their way over from pieces of the Storm. The ones close enough for her to see looked either confused or concerned, some a mix of both, as they moved to stand behind the other two. There were tons of them, about as many as there were when they had used the Formidi-Bomb before. Some were of faces she recognized; she saw Calvin from Redstonia standing amongst some of the closer groups of people, looking around warily. They'd have to tell him about Ellegaard at some point. He moved a couple of steps over, talking to someone who was too short for her to see.

Jesse had finally begun to calm down, as she lifted her head slightly and rubbed her eyes with a gloved hand. She dropped her hand, sitting still for a moment, then glanced towards the crowd. Almost immediately, she dropped her head back onto Olivia's shoulder, effectively hiding her face from the mass of people.

They'd have to explain everything. What had happened, who had defeated it, where they were, how long it had been… Hell, Olivia didn't even know how long it had been. It felt like years. She would have to tell the Redstonians what had happened to Ellegaard, they'd have to rebuild hundreds of thousands of buildings, and they'd have to look for people that had escaped it either the first time or the second. Jesse would have to explain what had happened in the Storm, they might have to explain that the Order were liars…

They had to explain _everything_.

Now wasn't really a good time for it, though.

Olivia gently rubbed Jesse's back comfortingly as she looked at the crowd again. Petra and Lukas were both talking to people now, all of which Olivia didn't recognize. A few people shot glances their way, but no one ever attempted to talk to them, and she was thankful for that.

This would be a long process.

* * *

 **AN: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheck**

 **kinda short chapter but it gave me hell**

 **until next time!**


	42. Aftermath

It took two days for the group of people, them included, to settle into the regime of rebuilding everything. The mass of people that had come out of the Storm was large enough to split almost in half, one group heading out to Mescue with Magnus and Axel to rebuild what they could. While the leaders of that group seemed somewhat untrustworthy, seeing as they were both known more for destruction, they'd both promised to get there, rebuild, and come back. Gabriel and Ivor were keeping an eye on things where they had originally set up shelter- most people didn't trust Ivor in the slightest, but they'd managed to convince them to let him help. The mass of people had decided that it would be a good place for a new town, as a memoriam to the fall of the Storms or something. A couple of people had been discussing a possible name for it the last time Olivia had heard anything about it.

As for her? She, Jesse, Lukas, and Petra were in charge of dividing up little groups of people to look for anyone who had escaped the Storms already. She was currently with Lukas, already having travelled for half of a day towards what someone had said was a camp of survivors; the only reason they believed him had been because he had escaped the first Storm, then got caught in the second. He'd apparently been one of the ones who had made the campsite in the first place. And with nothing else to go on, they headed out. Petra and Jesse had been a team, and there were at least ten other teams of two out and about as well.

Needless to say, the only thing on Lukas' mind was his friends. Not that she could blame him; the last time any of them had been seen was during the span of time after the Formidi-Bomb, where she had run into Maya. They hadn't seen Aiden since the keynote, and she hadn't seen Gill since before the convention had even started. So, needless to say, Lukas was worried about them. And, despite herself, it was rubbing off on her.

"Do you think we'll find them there?" Lukas' question pulled her from her thoughts, and she glanced at him. "Or anyone else we know?"

She could only shrug. "Maybe." She had to move around a chunk of debris. "We don't even know if this camp exists. Or still exists, at the very least."

"I don't see why he'd have had any reason to lie about this." Lukas shot a glance her way.

"Yeah, I don't think someone would lie right after an apocalypse. But everyone was still readjusting to being normal again after who knows how long in that Storm," she pointed out. "He could have been delusional or something."

There was a pause. "You aren't exactly helping right now."

"Just saying." Olivia shrugged in slight discomfort. "It's possible is all."

"... Right." Lukas looked back to the nonexistent pathway. Olivia debated on continuing on with what she had said, to maybe turn the thought around, but eventually decided against it.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking to the pathway as well. "Habit."

Lukas didn't respond vocally, so if he responded at all, she didn't know.

They pushed on; they weren't that far from where they had used the Formidi-Bomb, so there was both a good and bad chance that it was- or had been- nearby. Olivia glanced at the surrounding trees; they had grown denser as the two had walked. Usually, this would be an area where they'd want to be way more cautious than they were being, but they were distracted, so neither of them cared as much.

Well, until something rustled nearby. Then they were both on edge.

There was a brief, tense silence; Olivia found her hands hovering near her bow, looking at the surrounding foliage before sharing a glance with Lukas. Whatever it was moved again, proving it to be closer this time. They had a choice here, seeing as this was why they were there; they could stay silent, possibly avoiding a monster, or they could say something and possibly find someone who could help them.

"What do we do?" Olivia whispered as quietly as she could while still being heard. "We don't know what that is."

"I don't know," Lukas whispered back. "It could be a person from that camp. If it is, we'd want it's attention."

"But it might also not be." She glanced at the foliage again. "I know _I_ don't want to fight anything."

Lukas went to respond, but went silent as the rustling returned, this time for a lot longer than it had before. Olivia gripped her bow nervously, and could see Lukas reaching for something slowly. Before either of them could react, though, some of the bushes nearby parted, allowing a figure to move through.

Olivia swore she recognized him. She wasn't sure what it was, exactly that made her think that, but something seemed familiar about him. Brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin; honestly, if they were to compare him to Jesse, they might look almost the same. He had a tattered gray sweater, green suspenders clipped to tan pants. He had a sword in hand, glancing at them warily for a second, before his wariness melted away to something she couldn't name. Olivia shared a confused glance with Lukas, who looked to have the same thought process as her.

"Uh…" Lukas looked back at the stranger. "Hi. Do you, uh…"

"Do I know you from somewhere?" The newcomer cut him off. "You both look really familiar."

Olivia shared a glance with Lukas again, then shrugged. "Maybe." The other hummed, folding his arms carefully to avoid hitting the sword in his hand. "Uh, but we were kinda looking for this campsite someone told us about. Some place a lot of people who escaped that Storm gathered." She let her hand fall away from her weapon. "Do you know it?"

He snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah. I know where it is." He almost laughed. "Which is good, since I've been staying there since that monster first showed up."

"So you can take us there." Lukas placed a hand on his hip. "Right?"

"Sure, sure. This way." He motioned with a hand, then started to move back through the bushes. Olivia quickly moved after him, Lukas just behind her. He lead them to a partial pathway, barely worn down enough to see. They followed him down the path in silence for a few minutes, Olivia at a loss for words and Lukas not trying to speak at all.

She couldn't figure it out; she was almost certain she had met him before, but she couldn't place where she had met him. Then again, if she had met him a long time ago, it wasn't a surprise. If she hadn't become such good friends with them, she probably would have forgotten how she had met Jesse and Axel.

Now that she thought about it, she actually couldn't remember meeting Lukas. Or Petra, for that matter. It felt kind of like she's just always known them.

She leaned over towards Lukas to ask him a question, but was cut off when the stranger suddenly snapped his fingers and turned around.

"Do you know Jesse?" Olivia and Lukas both stopped walking. "Has a red streak in her hair, has a little pig, that Jesse?"

"Uh…" Olivia's eyes widened slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, she's a friend of ours."

He paused for a moment. "What're your names?"

Lukas and Olivia shared a glance. "Um… Olivia and Lukas." Olivia motioned to herself, then to Lukas as she listed the names. The stranger's eyes widened, and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times. Then, he snapped his fingers again, a look of realization coming across his face.

"Oh! Right, right, I thought I recognized you two!" He placed his fingers against his chest. "I'm-"

"Jax!" He was cut off by a new voice. He turned to the foliage behind him, hand lowering slightly. He then let out a mild groan, slumping briefly in frustration, before motioning to them and continuing down the makeshift path. Olivia blinked, sharing a glance with Lukas. Jax? That name made him seem more familiar. She shook her head slightly and followed him.

"You said you were looking for a camp." Jax spoke over his shoulder, then parted two bushes dramatically. "Here it is."

Beyond the bushes was what seemed more like a sparse village than a camp. Wooden huts were scattered around a clearing, seeming only slightly larger than the dirt huts they had been in the past couple of days. A few people were milling about, doing one thing or another. The whole clearing was down a small hill. There was a woman about halfway up the hill; it took Olivia about five seconds to recognize her; she was Gloria, the sugarcane farmer from Redstonia. She was moving towards them, glaring at Jax.

"Where have you been? You were told to stay here!" She placed her hands on her hips as she reached them.

"I didn't want to." Jax shrugged. "Besides. I found these two; they said they've been looking for this place." He motioned to Olivia, causing Gloria to look her way. Her hostility fell to confusion as she glanced them over.

"Oh." Her arms fell. "Did they escape the Storm before or something? Kinda weird that they'd show up now."

"No, no, we uh…" Olivia found herself getting uncomfortable. "We have news. About the Storms."

Gloria and Jax shared a glance. "Oh." Gloria watched them for a second, then tensed. " _Oh_. Okay, okay, c'mon." She motioned briskly to them, then hurried down the hill

"Do we ever get a break with these people…?" Lukas sighed beside her, following Gloria down the hill. Olivia just shrugged and started after him, Jax just behind her.

They were lead into the weird camp, Gloria looking around as if someone were trying to kill her. She suddenly swerved when they were close to the center of the camp, leading them to a clearing in the center. There was an older man standing there, watching people pass by. She waved and grabbed his attention.

"Robert! Robert, there are some newcomers. They say they have news." She sounded almost frantic, which seemed odd. The elder man, Robert, blinked at her, then folded his hands behind him.

"Relax, Gloria, there's no rush here. The Storm isn't here, is it?" His voice was calmer than Olivia had anticipated.

"Well…" Gloria's shoulders drooped as she seemed to relax slightly. "No, it's not."

"Exactly." Robert stepped past her to face Lukas. "So. You bring news?"

"Yes, sir, we do." Lukas nodded. Robert hummed.

"Well, you will have to hold it for a little while; we have people out right now." Robert gave them a friendly smile. "Feel free to relax in the meantime." He turned to Gloria. "Oh, Gloria, there was a child looking for you earlier. The one I've seen wandering around with you as of late." With that, he wandered back over to where he had been standing and resumed watching people walk by. Gloria blinked after him.

"Child?" Jax glanced at her. "You have a kid?"

"No, I don't have a kid." Gloria shot him a look and readjusted her hat. "Wren's been following me around because I'm the only one she knows from Redstonia." She turned to look for the aforementioned child. "If she isn't actively looking for me, she must be with Maya-"

Olivia didn't need to look at him to know that Lukas tensed at that. "Maya?" He took a step forwards. "You know Maya?"

Gloria glanced at him. "I know _a_ Maya, yeah. Are you looking for someone named Maya?"

"Yes! She's one of my teammates; I lost track of her at EnderCon-" Lukas started to ramble, so Olivia bumped his arm with a hand to cut him off.

"Well, you can come along if you want. Maybe she's the Maya you're looking for." Gloria shrugged and started to weave her way through the semi-crowded camp. Lukas followed close behind her, and Olivia, with nowhere else to go, followed them.

They weaved easily through the street towards one of the shacks at the far end. Olivia watched the faces of the people they passed, but she couldn't claim to recognize any of them. A few people gave them odd looks as they passed, but no one ever said anything to them. It didn't make it any less awkward for Olivia, though.

Gloria pushed one of the shack doors open and stepped inside, leaving the door open so Lukas and Olivia could enter as well. Olivia leaned inside from the doorway to see if anyone else was inside, while Lukas walked right in, anxious to find his aforementioned friend.

There were only two other people inside; one was a short girl, brunette hair fading into blonde at the tips. She had a ragged Redstonian school uniform on, and Olivia recognized her instantly from when she had followed her friend around as they lead her to one of the inventors.

The other was the person they were looking for, complete with Ocelot jacket and gold hair clip holding her bangs out of her eyes. The second she saw them, Maya shot to her feet, nearly ramming into Wren in the process; the girl immediately moved over to Gloria, shooting a way glance between Olivia and Lukas.

"Oh my god-" The brunette immediately hurried forwards, grabbing Lukas in a firm hug. "Holy shit, you're alive. You're _alive_!"

Lukas returned the hug with just as much force. "God, I've been worried _sick_ about you guys!" He broke free of Maya's grip, stepping back slightly. Maya took hold of his arms instead, giving him a once-over. "I wanted to come look for you guys, I did, but-"

"Dude, I'm just glad you're still alive!" She glanced over him again. "Nice getup, by the way. Where'd you get this?"

Lukas shrugged. "Long story." Maya made a face. "Wait," Lukas shifted, and Maya's hands fell away, "are Gill and Aiden here, too?"

Maya shifted a hand to her arm. "Gill is. He's out right now, but he's staying here too. I ran into him right after I ran into Olivia when that thing first died, and we ended up here." She looked down. "I haven't seen Aiden since EnderCon."

"We'll find him," Olivia offered softly. "We're not the only ones running around and looking for places like this, after all. He's bound to show up." Maya shot a small, thankful smile her way, before it fell away for a look of confusion.

"Wait, what are you guys doing here?" She stepped away from Lukas so she could address them both. "You didn't run from the Storm when it revived itself, did you?"

"Not immediately, no." Lukas folded his arms. "We're here with news on the Storms, actually."

Maya blinked. "Really?" She looked thoughtful for a moment, then hopeful. "Is it dead?"

Before either of them could answer, there was a muffled ringing sound from outside. Maya perked up, then looked at the door. Olivia and Lukas shared a glance, while Gloria took Wren by the hand and lead her outside. Maya was quick to follow them.

"What is that?" Lukas began to follow after his teammate. She glanced over her shoulder at him.

"That's Robert. He has an announcement, so he's calling everyone to the center of camp." She turned and lead them back towards the center. Lukas and Olivia shared another glance, then shrugged and followed her lead.

Robert had put down a block as a soapbox in the center of the circle that made up the center of the camp. He was standing atop it, ringing a bell in his hand. People from all areas of the camp were streaming into the clearing. He spotted Lukas, and motioned towards himself, so they made their way up to him through the crowd.

"We have some visitors. They claim to have news for us." Robert motioned to Lukas with a hand, stepping off of his makeshift podium. The blond hesitated, then moved to take his place on the block of wood.

"Uh…" He glanced at Olivia, and she nodded to him encouragingly from her place beside Robert. "So, we have some news. Good news." He took in a deep breath, tensing slightly. "The Storms are dead." He was instantly met with excited gasps and cheers from the entire crowd. He had been right to tense, as it was _loud_. Olivia flinched away from them. Lukas flinched slightly as well, motioning for them to quiet down. It took a few minutes, but they eventually listened. "We came to bring you to the uh… main town of the rebuilding process. I'd tell you which one, but…" He smiled sheepishly. "It's new and doesn't have a name yet." Murmurs rippled through the crowd. "But we're gathering everyone we can find there, so if you're missing someone, they'll likely be there.

"How did it die?" One person called from the midst of the mass of people.

"Our friend Jesse took it down with a special weapon," Lukas responded. The murmurs increased momentarily. Robert stepped forwards, and Lukas backed off of the block to allow him back onto it.

"Everyone, you have about ten minutes to gather any belongings you have. Once everyone is ready, we will follow these two to this town. Go on." The crowd instantly began to disperse, and Robert remained on his block as they did.

Lukas let out a sigh. "God, I hope that's all the speeches I have to do."

Olivia shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not."

Before Lukas could respond to that, he was practically tackled to the ground by Gill.


	43. Finale

Jesse was nervous. It wasn't new, but it was still evident.

As obvious as it was that she hadn't wanted to at all, she had agreed to the town holding a little ceremony. Apparently, it had been Gabriel's idea, though when they asked him, he wouldn't tell them why. Though, Olivia had a few guesses based on the tidbits of conversation she had overheard between him, Magnus, and Ivor.

Magnus and Axel had returned a few days prior to the end of the week with a handful of people who had helped in Mescue. Needless to say, while everyone had been skeptical of them, the two did a decent job at keeping things on track and getting things taken care of as quickly as possible. And based on what she had heard from the handful of people who had been there, Mescue was looking almost perfectly like it had before.

Axel had been introduced very quickly to Jax, seeing as he had stuck around Jesse since they'd returned with him a few days ago. The only exception to that would at the very moment; they hadn't seen him yet. He had been confused as to who he was, but for some reason held off on asking until Jax and Jesse had headed off to take care of something he'd needed help with.

" _Who is he?_ " Axel had asked her and Petra quietly. " _Is he like her boyfriend or something?_ " This had caused Petra to snort, then try and fail to hold back laughter. Axel had been rather confused by that, and looked almost offended. " _What?_ "

" _He's not her boyfriend,_ " Olivia had rolled her eyes at Petra's reaction, " _he's her brother. Twin brother._ "

" _Jesse has a brother?_ " Axel quirked his brow. " _Why hasn't she talked about him?_ "

" _She has multiple siblings. And she doesn't talk about them because she's too nervous about us possibly feeling bad about having little fight-prone families, on top of some other stuff she never talked to me about._ " Olivia had shrugged. Petra's laughter had died off by now, ending with a mild sigh.

" _It's not like she had any less fighting growing up than we did. That's how families work,_ " Petra commented lightly. Axel had blinked, then shrugged, and that had been that.

Jesse tugged at her right glove for the millionth time, pulling the edge up like the glove was going to fall off if she didn't. Olivia still questioned exactly why she had agreed to this if she knew just how much she hated crowds, but every time she tried to ask so far had ended in either no response, or someone cutting Jesse off. So she had, more or less, given up on asking at this point.

"Hey," she placed a hand on Jesse's shoulder, pulling her attention from her glove, "it's gonna be fine. This is no harder than saving the world, I'd assume."

Jesse smiled slightly, but it quickly faltered as she tugged on her other glove. "I-I guess." She didn't sound too confident in the assurance, but Olivia wasn't expecting her to. "They're two different things though."

"Still doesn't mean I'm wrong." Olivia shrugged, allowing her hand to slip off of Jesse's shoulder. "If you have to give a speech, it doesn't have to be long. 'Sides, no one can make you give one, anyways."

Jesse hummed softly and tugged harder on her glove. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say.

"Jesse." Olivia gently pulled the other's hand away from her glove. "You're gonna be fine. We're gonna be up there with you the whole time."

"I-I know, I just-" Jesse struggled to muffle a sigh. "I hate crowds. A-and speeches." She paused a moment. "A-and just about everything else th-that goes with this."

"Why did you agree to it?" Axel joined in, carefully approaching to stand just behind Olivia.

Jesse shrugged. "I-it's supposed to be a memorial… I-I wanted to give him a proper one."

So that was it. Jesse had been struggling for the past week with the knowledge that Reuben was gone. She couldn't blame her, for that or for wanting to give him something like this. He deserved it, and everyone knew it. She hadn't heard the term "stupid" coupled with "pig" all week.

That, of course, didn't mean that they could have done something else for him; it didn't need to be this social.

"You know we could have given him a different memorial. You didn't have to just go along with this idea." Petra offered her own words of advice this time, though they were incredibly similar to the ones Olivia was about to give. "He was yours, after all."

Jesse hummed again. This time, it took her a good several seconds to really respond. "Th-this is what felt _right_ , though."

Olivia blinked, then glanced back at the others. None of them knew how to respond to that. They didn't really get a chance to try, though, as Gabriel approached them, already about to speak.

"It seems everyone is ready for us to begin," he said, glancing between them briefly before his gaze rested on Jesse. "Are you ready?"

Jesse took a moment or two to respond, then gave each glove a final tug and nodded lightly. "Yeah."

Gabriel gave a single nod at this, then motioned for them to follow before leading the way towards the main road, where the whole thing was supposed to take place. As they walked, Gabriel spoke over his shoulder to them.

"We plan to begin at the gates, where the memorial is, and then move to the stage in the center of town," he explained. "The whole thing should not take much more than twenty minutes at most. It will likely be shorter than that."

"That seems really short," Axel commented lightly, eliciting a shrug from the warrior ahead of them.

"That is how it works."

"I'm not complaining," Olivia swore she heard Jesse mutter under her breath. And if that was the case, she wouldn't be surprised. She shrugged her response, and they rounded a corner to enter the main road.

Almost instantly, the crowd of people they should have expected but didn't let out an excited, ear-splitting cheer, causing them to flinch back from the sudden loud noise. Jesse very briefly looked about ready to book it away from there, but that faded pretty quickly, and they continued through the gap in the crowd towards the memorial that had been finished the day before.

Olivia, Lukas, and Petra had been in charge of that project, seeing as Axel was busy elsewhere and it was meant to be a surprise for Jesse. It hadn't taken long to complete, luckily, and they were about to throw some sort of drape over it to hide it when Jesse happened to walk by early.

So the surprise had been let out early; it didn't make it any less of a surprise.

They silently approached the memorial, fanning out around it. Magnus and Ivor were already standing nearby, Magnus giving a mildly sympathetic glance towards Jesse as she examined the quartz staircase at the base of the memorial. Gabriel turned to the still-cheering crowd, lifting his hands and motioning for them to quiet down.

"Please, please!" The crowd quickly fell quiet, watching him respectfully. "Before we begin, it only seems right to…" He hesitated a moment, hands faltering. "To take a moment of silence for those who were lost."

For a moment, Olivia had nearly forgotten that they weren't the only ones who had lost a close friend. Ellegaard had been a good friend of Gabriel's, as well as Magnus' and Ivor's. Gabriel hadn't been there when she had died, and didn't remember who she was when they were still freshly mourning. He hadn't been there for any of it. Which was why he kept faltering.

Gabriel turned away from the crowd, so Olivia turned her attention to the memorial again.

It was almost entirely made of polished diorite, with quartz embellishments at the top and bottom. There was a sort of quartz torch at the top, a lit piece of netherrack in the middle of it. There were banners on the side of the memorial facing them, bearing a teal-to-gray gradient with a picture of Reuben's face and black patterns above and below it. A plaque with the name "Reuben" in all capitals was underneath it, and a small row of flowers and small bushes sat at the base of the thing as a sort of little garden.

Lukas had been the one to design it, and honestly, Olivia thought that he had done a great job.

She lowered her gaze to the garden at the base. It was surreal, though she had grown used to it; Reuben was gone. He wasn't going to come back. She wasn't nearly as close to him as Jesse had been- she didn't think anyone was- but it still hurt. She hadn't treated him quite the way she had wanted, admittedly, but she supposed that it wasn't inherently _bad_. She just wished she could change some things is all.

That was how this worked. You don't realize what you could have done better until you don't get the chance to change. No matter how much you hated it, or wanted it to be different, it wasn't going to change. She'd just have to live with it.

Hopefully, that would be easier than it seemed at that moment.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Jesse's hand moved to rub at her face, which was hidden behind her hair. She watched her a moment, carefully debating on whether she should try to comfort her or let her have her moment to grieve, but didn't get a chance to decide before Axel stepped past her. Jesse glanced up at him when he placed his hand on her shoulder, then took a deep breath. Olivia shot her an encouraging smile when their gazes met, before Jesse turned to face the crowd.

The crowd immediately erupted in cheers again, and Olivia saw Jesse hold down a flinch from the edge of her vision. Despite it, Jesse took a second to stand there, then she started towards the stage at the other end of the crowd. Olivia followed her down the small steps to the road, following the walkway the crowd made and carefully keeping towards the middle of the gap. She bumped into Axel a time or two as a result.

She carefully moved up onto the stage after Jesse and Axel; she and Petra stood just in front of Axel off to one side, while Gabriel, Magnus, and Ivor stood in a short line on the other side of the stage. Jesse and Gabriel were in the middle of the stage, looking out at the crowd.

Sure enough, there were a number of people she recognized scattered in the mass of people. She noted Jax, front and center, filling in the pathway with a number of others. A couple of people she swore she'd seen in Redstonia were there, as well as a couple of people she'd seen around EnderCon. She recognized the lady from the slime booth towards the middle of the mass, as well as the older man who had been building a TNT machine back in Redstonia. She also noted a woman in the front who, guessing by the gunpowder and ash still caked into her hair and the number of burn scars on her arms, was likely from Boom Town. Jesse shot a brief glance to the side, and Olivia followed it to spot Lukas standing at the edge of the crowd, the other Ocelots behind him. He shot Jesse a small grin and a nod, and the brunette returned it, before looking at the crowd again.

"People used to look at me like that once, Jesse." She barely heard Gabriel mutter to Jesse over the cheering. "Having my memory restored has been both a blessing… and a curse." Gabriel leaned a bit closer to Jesse and muttered something too quietly for her to hear. She turned her attention to the crowd again, smiling briefly as someone waved frantically in the back.

"This is kinda exciting." She turned to glance at Petra, who was grinning as she spoke. "I didn't think having this much attention on you could be exciting, honestly, but it is."

"I guess." Olivia shrugged. "I'm not that much of a fan. But I guess it's kind of interesting. I'm just not used to it."

"I'm not either." The redhead returned the shrug mildly. "I'm just saying I can see why some people don't mind this."

Olivia was about to respond, but was cut off when Gabriel stepped forwards and lifted his crowd's cheering died off quickly, and his hands lowered as he started to speak.

"We owe a great debt to Jesse and her friends," he started. "But I owe a debt to you people as well. Which is why… There is something I want to tell you. About the Order."

Olivia blinked in surprise. Was he actually going to tell them? She caught sight of Ivor nodding ever so slightly.

"The Order of the Stone… is not what you all believed." So he was going to tell them. "We were… frauds. We used the Command Block to falsify our legacy." He was interrupted almost instantly by a collective gasp from the audience, several of the members of it going wide eyed and several more scowling. Gabriel glanced at Ivor, who nodded lightly, and Magnus' head drooped. Gabriel sighed, turning to the crowd again. "We were no heroes."

Mutters erupted from the crowd, and Gabriel lowered his gaze to the base of the stage. Jesse spared a glance back at them, and it was evident on her face that she felt bad; Olivia's best guess as to why was because she had told him to tell the truth.

"So it is time for the world to celebrate new heroes," Gabriel continued, causing the muttering to die off. "Real heroes." He glanced back at them as he spoke, and Olivia automatically straightened slightly. He turned to the crowd again, but the crowd didn't react to it as any of them had hoped. Silence emanated from them. After a few seconds, Gabriel slumped slightly; Jesse glanced at them again, then carefully stepped forwards and placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her briefly, then at Ivor and Magnus, before the three stepped off of the stage, leaving Jesse in the center of the stage.

The second they were off the stage, the crowd erupted again into cheering. Olivia swore she saw Gabriel flinch, but he quickly hid it as he turned to face the stage, clapping lightly with the rest of the crowd. Jesse quickly tried to motion for them to quiet down, but it took a couple of moments for it to actually work.

She started to try and speak, but nothing came out. Jesse faltered, hands hovering in front of her as she glanced back at them. Petra nodded lightly, and Olivia offered a double-thumbs up and a grin. She didn't see if Axel reacted, but she assumed he sent an encouraging grin or something her way as well. Jesse swallowed, then shakily turned back to the crowd.

"I-I, um…" Jesse took a deep breath, carefully letting it out before starting again. "I-I know you, um, think I'm up here because I saved the world, o-or something…" A couple of people cracked grins at that. "B-but the truth is, I didn't do it alone." She glanced back at them, a small smile on her face. "Far from it." She turned to the crowd again, carefully motioning back at them. "You see, I-I had my friends with me." She turned back to them, motioning carefully to each of them as she continued. "There was Olivia, Axel, Petra," she turned and motioned off of the side of the stage, "Lukas…" Jesse turned to the crowd again. "They never gave up. On the world, o-or on me." She glanced back at Olivia, grinning almost mischievously. "Well, uh, maybe once or twice." Olivia snorted as a few giggles sounded from the crowd.

"If they only knew…" She shook her head lightly, and Jesse's grin widened slightly as she turned back to the crowd.

"I-It's kinda crazy t-to think my friends and I started out i-in a treehouse, a-and now we've been to some of the weirdest places in the world." She hesitated, placing a hand to her chin thoughtfully for a moment before lowering it again. "I-I mean, we went to the Far Lands!" There were several gasps and shouts of surprise and excitement, before cheering erupted again. Jesse started to try and describe it, based on the way her hands moved slightly, before she gave up on it. "I-I would, um, try to describe it, b-but there's no real good way to do it. Y-you just had to be there, I-I guess." She took another, slightly shaky breath. "B-but… When it was all said and done, what really mattered was-"

She cut off, fist clenching as her hands started to tremble slightly. Olivia blinked, turning too share a concerned glance with Petra, before carefully stepping forwards and placing a hand on Jesse's arm. Jesse glanced back at her shakily.

"It's okay," Olivia smiled lightly. "You're doing great." Jesse blinked at her, then took a deep breath, and turned back to the crowd.

"The… The most important thing at the end of the day w-was finishing what we had set out to do." Olivia nodded slightly as she pulled her hand away and stepped back into place. "Th-there was no way we were gonna let a place like this get torn apart!" The crowd cheered at that, causing Jesse to grin lightly. "A-and, well… I-if it weren't for everyone who helped me a-along the way, it wouldn't have been possible, s-so…" She turned and glanced back at them again, smiling wider. "Thanks."

The crowd erupted once again into cheers. Olivia turned to share a grin with Axel, then with Petra, before her attention was pulled to the center of the stage again as Magnus made his way up again, some odd, purple thing hovering in his hands.

"Jesse," he took on an announcer voice as he stopped in front of her, causing her to turn and face him, "this is the Nether Star that dropped when the Wither Storm was destroyed." He held out his hands, and she carefully took the Nether Star from him. He grinned and motioned to the large mass behind them, his voice reverting to normal. "You wanna do the honors?"

Jesse glanced at it, examining one of the beacons carefully, before climbing up to the center of it. Olivia could see a dark blue hunk of glass at the top, which Jesse examined carefully for a moment, before gently placing the Nether Star onto the glass. It started spinning, going faster and faster until it looked like a purple orb.

"This is gonna be so cool…" Olivia barely heard Lukas.

Suddenly, pillars of light of different colors shot out of the beacons, each beam color corresponding with the color of glass on top of them. they formed a pattern similar to the Order's amulet, with red, green, cyan, and white coming out of each of the side stripes, and dark indigo coming out of the center. The colors corresponded with the amulet's perfectly.

"Whoa!" Jesse took a step back, seemingly excited by the light show. Olivia grinned excitedly as well.

"My friends!" Her attention was pulled back to the center of the stage, where Gabriel was standing straight, and held the amulet up above his head. She blinked in surprise, sharing a glance with Axel. "I am now pleased to introduce to you…" He turned, gently pushing past Olivia to hold the amulet out to Jesse. She carefully took ahold of it, confusion evident on her face. Gabriel turned around once she had a grip on it. "The New Order of the Stone!"

Jesse straightened at this, eyes widening. Olivia's eyes widened as well, before a small, excited smile pushed it's way onto her face. The crowd cheered, some excitedly bouncing in place. Jax had a huge grin on his face as he watched Jesse carefully hop back down to the stage. Lukas was grinning excitedly too; Magnus and Ivor were clapping along with the crowd. Olivia shared a grin with Jesse as she moved to the center of the stage.

And just like that, everything was officially over. Their lives had changed, but that was okay.

They were in this together.

* * *

 **AN: aaaand that's that! Withered is officially finished! there's gonna be a sequel, but y'all gotta wait a bit for me to do school things and actually write the thing and make a cover and think of a title and all**

 **thanks for reading!**

 **until next time!**


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